The HalfBlood Cure
by Syvania
Summary: Eliza Slope had given up working as a healer 14 years ago when everything she loved was ripped away from her by the Dark Lord. But sometimes revisiting the past can be the best cure of all, especially when that cure involves the Half-Blood Prince.
1. Eliza's Neighbor

For fourteen years Eliza Slope lived in the second-to-last house on Spinner's End, and in all of those fourteen years she had never once spoken to her next door neighbor. It wasn't out of rudeness that she remained unacquainted, but rather that he spent most of the year away from home and he was a rather stiff and unfriendly fellow. The other neighbors were accustomed to his disagreeable air and had taken to ignoring him, but Eliza was intrigued the moment he arrived that first summer she spent her new home.

Eliza had not planned on living this life on Spinner's End. In fact, she had a wonderful life in London, working at St. Mungo's as a healer. Everything had been going in the right direction and just as it seemed that all of her dreams were going to come true, in a single moment, that wonderful life was all destroyed. It was as though everything she held dear in life had been sitting precariously on a shelf just waiting for a moment of carelessness or distraction to fall and shatter, forever lost. There was no alternative but to escape, run away and save herself from the same destructive forces that had turned her world upside down. With nothing more than her grief and guilt, Eliza searched for someplace far away from the wizarding world, someplace that was safe.

The small industrial town seemed to be pretty innocuous and the tiny cottage that she bought was positively charming. It was lonely at first but Eliza reveled in the anonymity she now possessed. No one knew who she was or where she was from. With an embellished resume and the use of the confundus charm, Eliza was able to secure a job as a teacher at the local primary school. Although she taught all subjects very well, science was clearly her strongest subject. Muggle science amused her with its trivial explanations for supernatural phenomena and its rigidity regarding various laws, but the joy she received from enriching the minds of ten year olds was worth every moment. After teaching for fourteen years, Eliza had such satisfaction with her job that any desire to return to St. Mungo's had vanished.

Despite the adoration of her students and the comradery she had with her fellow teachers and neighbors, Eliza knew that they were wary, if not suspicious of her. Muggles could sense the subtle differences between themselves and wizards, but they could not identify exactly what those differences were. Since Eliza's peculiarities were buried even more than the averages witch's after she quit using magic, the nervous muggles chalked up their discomfort to her unusual appearance: Eliza's hair was pure white with one thick black streak along-side her face. It was rather odd that the young woman should have white hair and even though she was 34 years old, premature graying could not explain away the color because it had been that way for 14 years.

Yes, Spinner's End had been a good choice. In her charming cottage Eliza filled her days with lesson planning, grading and gardening. It was almost easy to put her former life behind her and forget about what she had been before. Although she had quit using magic long ago, Eliza still brewed potions because, frankly, muggle medicine was not all it was cracked up to be. She still grew her own magical herbs in the backyard and her wand was kept in the kitchen drawer for potion-making purposes only, but other than that it was a muggle life for her. Well, and except for the fact that she lived next door to a wizard.

Yes, Eliza knew he was a wizard and although she had hoped that she was mistaken, his magical abilities soon became obvious. His visits were always brief with the longest stay occurring during the summer holidays. She knew that he wasn't there for his health considering the polluted air and the amount of time he spent inside, but Eliza wondered why he would toil his summers away in the small house. Spinners End was hardly an enjoyable place to be and her neighbor was definitely not amused with his visits there. Occasionally, through his living room window (his house sat rather close to hers), she saw him leave with a quick spin and his form disintegrated into nothingness. He also appeared in a similar fashion and Eliza knew that only a wizard could travel in such a way. He was definitely a wizard and she wondered if he knew about her own abilities.

As the school year ended, Eliza anxiously waited for her mysterious neighbor to return home. She didn't have any reservations about him living next door, in fact, despite all of his brooding and scowls, she somehow felt safer with him nearby. On nights that she couldn't sleep, she could always count on him being awake too. It was comforting to her to see his profile through the window, his hooked nose and lank hair, as he read into the night. He didn't know she was watching him and the idea that he might somehow discover her nocturnal voyeurism absolutely mortified her, but those moments gave her contentment, knowing that someone else from her world was also experiencing insomnia, although the reasons behind his sleeplessness remained a mystery.

Sometimes, Eliza was aware that he watched her too, when she was in the garden, digging among her herbs. She pretended not to notice him and as she worked, she prayed that he didn't know a magical plant from a common weed. Sometimes, when he stood in the large upstairs window and stared down with his cold black eyes, she sensed a familiarity as though she knew him from somewhere, but she didn't dwell on it. It was better to forget her connections to the former life and not acknowledging her wizard neighbor made the effort much easier.

But she couldn't ignore him forever and exactly one week after he returned to his home, fourteen summers after she moved in, Eliza met the bat-like man, although not with the circumstances she would have preferred.


	2. Remembering How

It was another sleepless night for Eliza with those terrible dreams, remembering dreams that plagued her slumber and often woke her up to a splitting headache. She hated those nights, reliving the past, and although a simple potion could stop these dreams from occurring, it was all that remained of the family she no longer had.

Eliza clutched her head as she fumbled through her medicine cabinet searching for the headache potion she had brewed the day before. Lately, she had been going through the potion at an alarming rate, and fresh batched had to be brewed weekly. Since she was wide awake, Eliza headed downstairs to have a cup of tea and to watch her neighbor also bide his time, waiting for the wakefulness to pass. She was quite surprised that night to find his window dark for she had seen him in it every sleepless summer night for the last fourteen years.

She paced the living room, wondering where the man could be, horrible images floating in her head as her imagination tried to piece together the mystery of his whereabouts. Eliza heard swoosh followed by a thump outside. Not knowing what else to do, she dug her wand out of the kitchen drawer and ran out the front door. In her neighbor's yard lay dark figure illuminated by the street lamp. She knew that this was her neighbor and as she ran over to help him up, a sick sense of dread settled in her stomach: something was very wrong.

Eliza quickly assessed the damage, her healer senses kicking in not a moment too soon. She could see that he was barely breathing and his black robes were covered in blood. In the past, she had seen people like this, mostly when they were brought into St. Mungo's after an attack by Death Eaters. But that had been years ago and Voldemort had been defeated by the baby, Harry Potter, so that couldn't have been the cause of his injuries. Using all of her strength, Eliza hauled up the man, pulling his arm around her shoulders and grasping his waist, as she dragged him towards his house. There were no charms or wards protecting his door, making Eliza wonder if he had expected this to happen or if he had a false sense of security, so she was able to take him directly inside and lay him on the sofa.

It had been so long since she had used magic to heal, and Eliza wasn't sure that she still processed the required knowledge, but there was no time to waste. The severity of this man's injuries was such that he would soon die if she did not treat him. Without more than a moment's hesitation, the spells came to mind and she was able to cease the blood flowing from his wounds and cast a numbing charm to ease his pain while she worked. Eliza carefully removed his cloak, vest, and shirt and examined the damage that remained. He had deep cuts across his stomach and arms while a dark purple bruise covered his right side. Cautiously, she pressed his ribs under the bruise, feeling the broken bones underneath.

She examined his arms and found nothing more that bruises and mild cuts. But his left forearm caught her eye and she saw the skull and snake embossed on his skin. The Dark Mark. The same mark that laced her dreams and made her sick just seeing it. She quickly drew away from him, closing her eyes and breathing in sharply. She was repulsed at the sight of his allegiance to Voldemort and yet she could not bring forward the hatred he deserved. Despite all the rage she felt towards Death Eaters and the terrible crimes they committed, as she looked at his pathetic form lying on the sofa, she knew that she could not refuse the treatment he needed.

Baffled by her own charity, Eliza continued working on the man. She kept telling herself that Voldemort was dead and the Dark Mark on her neighbor's arm was residual. The man wasn't much older than she was, so he could have easily been swept up in the Dark Lord's ardor. So many of her classmates had given themselves over to the terrible man, each of them enamored with thoughts of power and strength. Even members of her own family sought the Dark Lord's favor, although her cousin Regulus had abandoned the cause shortly before his death.

Yes, Eliza could see the draw that Voldemort had, but she still condemned those who were too weak to resist it. Perhaps it was because of her success at St. Mungo's that Eliza was able to push away the Dark Lords bequest. Her ambition's cravings were filled by promotion and seniority at work, discovery and research, rather than hatred and murder. She didn't need to cut down others to feel worthy, like so many of her fellow Slytherins and most of the Black family.

But the man before her, still lying sedated on the sofa, didn't radiate with the same hatred and dissatisfaction that the Death Eaters possessed. True, he definitely exhibited the same tendencies with his scowls and general lack of manners, but the source of his hatred seemed to lie in another location. Eliza sensed that his anger followed a narrow line, that perhaps it was a few people or events rather than an entire half of wizard society that had propelled him into the Dark Lord's lair.

Eliza finished her work as quickly as possible, careful not to release the man from his magic-induced slumber. By waving her wand and muttering a few words, she knitted his bones back together and sealed the open wounds on his torso. She also summoned necessary potions from her house, the little bottles floating through the open windows, so that she could replenish his blood supply, ease his pain, and give him a night of dreamless sleep.

Giving him one final check to make sure she had healed all of his injuries, Eliza decided that her work was done. She covered him with a blanket she found in the first bedroom down the narrow hallway and made her way to the door.

Pausing just before stepping outside, Eliza looked back at her neighbor. In his rare moment of slumber, he looked peaceful and calm. Warmth swelled out of her chest and caught in her throat as a wave of emotion crashed down on her. All the feelings she had ever experienced when healing at St. Mungo's had returned only intensified by the years that had passed.

Afraid of the elation she felt from using her skills after such a long sabbatical, Eliza scuttled across the yard and into her safe, cozy cottage. She rushed upstairs and dove into her bed, shivering under the covers from excitement rather than cold.

As she tried to put the night's events from her mind and to forget the momentary joy she had using magic again, Eliza's thoughts drifted to the Dark Mark on her neighbor's arm. She knew that he was not the kind of person to cross but she was rather nonplussed about his membership to the terrible organization. It had been fourteen years since the Dark Lord was defeated and people can change in that length of time. Voldemort was no longer a threat, right?


	3. Caught in the Act

The next morning, Eliza regretted the favor she had performed for her neighbor. Even one life wasn't worth jeopardizing her security and muggle routine. Besides, he was a Death Eater and there was nothing redeemable about them.

As much as she tried to feel guilty about her good deed, the joy of performing magic after such a long absence nagged at her and soon found herself using her wand for minor tasks, such household chores and lighting a room. Frustrated with her lack of will-power, Eliza buried her wand in the kitchen drawer where it belonged.

As days passed and Eliza tried desperately to regain her muggle habits, her neighbor made no move to address what she had done for him. He continued to follow his usual routine of sulking about his house, scowling at the neighbors when he was outside, and reading into the night when sleep evaded him. If it wasn't for the intensified snarls he cast towards her house, Eliza wouldn't have suspected that he was even aware that anyone had saved his life. But no matter, Eliza was pleased that he was giving her no acknowledgement, and she was once again comforted when she felt his eyes on her in the garden and as she watched him after her terrorizing dreams every night.

But one night, as Eliza peered into her neighbor's window, wondering what might be keeping him up as well, he saw her. In all the previous years, Eliza had been able to gaze upon him undetected long into the night. But this particular night, as he poured over a massive volume, he stiffened and quickly turned towards his window. His lip curled into a scowl when his eyes landed on Eliza and he jumped up from his seat. For the brief moment that their gaze caught, his flint-hard eyes sparked with indignation from being spied upon. Poor Eliza squeaked and dropped her tea cup. She quickly scooted out of the living room and back upstairs where she hid under her covers until morning, mortified that she had finally been caught.

This was the second awkward encounter that Eliza had with the wizard and she was not looking forward to a third. Afraid that her now quite angry neighbor might accost her in the garden, Eliza remained inside and away from windows. It was a little silly that she was afraid of the impending confrontation, but she had never been caught spying on dark, brooding wizards before. Well, except for that one time at Hogwarts….but that was a long time ago and the situation was completely different.

As much as she wanted to hide out forever, Eliza could feel the walls closing in on her and it was time to get out for a bit. To make sure that she would not be in view of the next house's upstairs window, she opted to work in the front, sweeping off the walk that led to her house. It was a pleasant day and Eliza soon forgot about the man next door as she worked and waved to people walking by.

"Mrs. Slope, Mrs. Slope, guess what!" shouted a little girl who came running up to her yard.

"What is it, Melanie?" Eliza asked, laughing lightly at the girl's excitement. Melanie Davenport lived three houses down and was one of Eliza's students. She had been showing some peculiarities throughout primary school and in Eliza's class there had been an unfortunate incident that involved another student's frog going up in smoke. Melanie was very upset at the time and Eliza finally had to explain what was going on, that Melanie was in fact a witch. The little girl took the news surprisingly well, and during the remainder of the school year she had become quite attached to Eliza.

"It's true! Everything you said! Professor Dumbledore came and I get to go to…" Melanie's excited speech stopped when she noticed a terrifying man in a black flapping cloak standing at the edge of Eliza's yard. The teacher glanced behind her and saw him standing there, watching with a scrutinizing scowl.

Eliza swallowed hard. She didn't know how much he had heard, but she didn't want to continue talking about her knowledge of the magic world in front of him.

"Let's go inside Melanie, and you can tell me all about your visit," She murmured, steering her student towards the house. Giving her mysterious neighbor one last glance, Eliza followed Melanie inside.

In Eliza's small living room, Melanie was back to rambling excitedly about visiting with Albus Dumbledore and getting her Hogwarts letter. Eliza listened, smiling as she remembered her own Hogwarts letter and first days of school. Of course she had known that she was a witch from the time she was born.

"Mrs. Slope, will you come with me to get my school supplies?" Melanie asked, batting her eyelashes ever so slightly. Eliza stared at her for a moment, completely dumbfounded by the request.

"Oh Melanie, I can't – I just can't go…" She stuttered, finding it harder and harder to resist the puppy dog eyes she was getting in return.

"Please Mrs. Slope, please?" Melanie begged.

"I don't know…"

"Professor Dumbledore said I should ask you to come with me. He said you would be very helpful," Melanie said, smiling slyly. Eliza sighed. She knew she was defeated when the girl mentioned Dumbledore.

"I guess I don't have much choice in the matter," Eliza said wearily. "Yes Melanie, I will go with you to get your school supplies."

"Oh thank you, thank you Mrs. Slope!" Melanie shouted, throwing her arms around the teacher. Over the girl's shoulder, Eliza could see her dark-eyed neighbor watching them through the window with his permanent scowl still plastered on his face. She frowned slightly in return.

After all these years and no matter how hard Eliza tried to avoid it, the wizarding world seemed to be sucking her back in. She knew that a certain Albus Dumbledore had something to do with these changes, and as much as it irritated her to think about it, she also knew that no matter how strange his ideas were, it was usually best to do what he said. Besides what harm is there in going to Diagon Alley?


	4. Diagon Alley

The Days leading up to Eliza and Melanie's Diagon Alley trip was agonizing for both of them. Melanie couldn't wait to see the magical community stuffed to the brim with wizards and shops. Eliza dreaded being immersed into the world she avoided.

When the day finally arrived, Eliza was a nervous wreck. She anxiously fidgeted with her wand while waiting for Melanie to knock on her door. Eliza felt sick to her stomach and she paced the living room floor hoping to shake her apprehension about the trip.

It wasn't as though any news from the magical world had surfaced, but the Eliza had been feeling increasingly uneasy. Perhaps it was due to the odd hours that her neighbor had been leaving and returning at night, or maybe it was the mysterious fires and muggle deaths (even though these events were relatively few compared to the first war). Eliza could tell something was going on. On more than one occasion, on the nights that the wizard next door was home, Eliza saw him glare at the terrible mark on his left arm as though he hated the sight of it, as though his black eyes could sear the mark off his skin and forever erase the Dark Lord. Something was definitely going on.

But Eliza wasn't going to let her paranoia detract from Melanie's joy. This first venture into Diagon Alley would be a monumental step for any young witch or wizard, and Eliza wanted Melanie to have the best day possible.

When the young girl finally arrived, Eliza dug out an old jar of floo powder that had been buried in her closet. As she explained the travelling process to Melanie, Eliza threw a handful of powder into her fireplace making the flames glow bright green. Nervously, Melanie stepped in first, shouting "Diagon Alley". Eliza prepared the flames again and stepped, hesitating slightly. It was terrifying, thinking about returning to that world. Taking a deep breath, Eliza stepped into the emerald flames and hurtled to the place she dreaded most: home.

Melanie was amazed by Diagon Alley. After being thoroughly charmed by the Leaky Cauldron and entranced by the cobblestone street that was teeming with magical folk, the pair headed to Gringotts to exchange Melanie's muggle money. A little while, and several explanations about goblins and other magical creatures later, Eliza decided it was time to get Melanie's wand. Of course they went to Ollivander's because he made the best wands in all of Britain.

"Ah, Miss Black, I wondered when you would be coming in again," Said Mr. Ollivander as Eliza and Melanie walked in his store. "And this is your daughter, getting ready to go to Hogwarts?"

"It's Mrs. Slope now," Said Eliza, pleased that he recognized her all these years later. "And this is Melanie Davenport. She is one of my students and it's her first time in Diagon Alley." Melanie smiled brightly.

"Ah yes, well it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Davenport," said to Melanie. "I remember when Eliza here came in to get her wand – cherry, 11 ¾ inches, unicorn hair core? Yes I remember every wand I sell. As soon as Eliza picked up that wand she pointed it straight at me and healed a paper cut. I've never seen anything like it. Now don't you try something like that, she was very lucky that the spell even worked…" Eliza smiled as the wand maker told Wide-eyed Melanie tales about selling wands. The pair headed down one of the narrow aisles and Eliza sat down to wait.

On the table beside her chair sat the most recent issue of the daily prophet. Eliza picked it up, feeling a little nostalgic as she scanned over the front page. She frowned slightly as she read an article about Harry Potter's bizarre claims that Voldemort had returned. It seemed odd that they were accusing the boy of lunacy when the last time she had been amongst her own he was being celebrated as Voldemort's defeater.

On another page, Eliza saw a small article that mentioned her deranged cousin Sirius Black. As she recalled, he had been the cause of Lily and James Potter's deaths. Everyone in her family had been pleasantly surprised by Sirius' treason. Everyone except Eliza. She hadn't been supportive of his involvement with the Order of the Phoenix, but she despised his change of heart even more.

The sick feeling that Eliza had that morning was coming back. Something was going on and she didn't know who was telling the truth but she wanted nothing more than to hide in her cottage on Spinners End.

"They say he's back," She heard Mr. Ollivander's voice say quietly. Looking up, she saw the man giving her an intense look. "They also say he's mad," he said, waving at the picture of Harry gracing the cover. "But I don't believe it. Something is going on and the ministry is trying awfully hard to cover it up."

Eliza shivered at his words. She didn't know what to think or say, she just knew that now was not a good time to be back in the wizard world. Looking over the wand makers shoulder, she saw Melanie coming up to them beaming as she carried her new wand.

"9 ½ inches, walnut, dragon heartstring core," she announced, waving the wand slightly and giggling when blue sparks shot out the end. They paid for Melanie's wand and Eliza gave Mr. Ollivander a knowing look as they left. She had a feeling that Mr. Ollivander was right but didn't want to say the words. How terrible that Melanie was about to join the masses of young witches and wizards going to Hogwarts in just a few days and the threat of Voldemort would be hanging over their heads. Eliza wanted nothing more than to tell Melanie to stay home and hide from the dangers of magic.

Despite all of Eliza's fears the day was not completely ruined by the dreadful news. Melanie's excitement was contagious and the girls had a great deal of fun buying books, robes, and potions supplies. It wasn't until dinner at the Leaky Cauldron that Eliza heard any more murmurings about the Dark Lord. She tried her best to shut out the rumors but they were there, stuck in her mind.

That night, after returning home to her cozy cottage, Eliza had her dream again. She could see the blazing home before her and the dark mark glowed sinisterly above the flames. Waking up in a cold sweat, Eliza went downstairs hoping to seek solace in her neighbor's sleepless night too. But he was not there and as she stared at his dark house, she never felt so alone.


	5. Introductions

There was one week left before the start of term and Eliza was determined to make it a very enjoyable and productive week. She also knew that at some point during the next few days, her brooding neighbor would leave and only return intermittently throughout the year. For once, she was looking forward to him leaving so she could go back to living her magic-free life without looking over her shoulder, worrying that he had discovered her secret. She was also looking forward to not having a constant reminder of the threat that Voldemort posed. Eliza figured that if her neighbor wasn't there, staring at the dark mark on his arm night after night, she might be able to put the rumors she had heard in Diagon Alley out of her head.

Taking advantage of the sunny day, Eliza headed out to work in her garden. Her plants had been severely neglected since the last awkward encounter with her neighbor, and there was a lot of work to be done in order to restore the garden's previous splendor. Furiously digging weeds out from around her dittany plant, Eliza didn't notice when a dark shadow was cast over her.

"Well, this is an interesting way of hiding your magic abilities from muggles," said a soft, cold voice above her.

Eliza jumped, dropping the gardening tools she was holding. Slowly she stood, not turning around to face the intruder. She knew who it was without looking at him.

"They don't know," She whispered, her breath catching slightly in her throat. "They don't know what these plants can do."

"Even muggles aren't too thick to realize that plants shouldn't sparkle or move on their own accord."

Eliza finally turned to face him, her face growing very pale when she saw his hard, black glare. "How long have you known?" She asked.

"For quite a while. Did you really think that I wouldn't know what you were growing back here? I am the potions master at Hogwarts, of course I know what these plants are for."

"Hogwarts," She said gleefully," that's where you go at the end of summer." He rolled his eyes and frowned at her. "What's your name," She continued. "We must be about the same age. What house were you in? How long have you taught a Hog-"

"We should take this conversation inside," He interrupted, eyeing the old ladies on the sidewalk who had stopped to stare at them, amazed that the black-cloaked man was actually speaking to someone.

Eliza nodded quickly and beckoned him to follow her through the backdoor and into the kitchen of her cottage. Motioning for him to sit, she busied herself by getting tea ready, anything to hide her nerves. The man was so cold and bitter that poor Eliza didn't know how to act around him. Sure, she knew others with similar personalities, being a Slytherin and a member of the Black family tended to draw an unsavory crowd, but Eliza found her neighbor to be unpredictable and unnerving.

"Well," She said, finally putting a cup in front of him, "What is your name?"

"Snape. Severus Snape," He said coolly. "And you?"

Eliza didn't reply right away. She knew that name from somewhere. Racking her brain for a memory, any memory, she didn't immediately come up with anything. She did however, remember her cousin, Sirius, calling some boy a name, what was it.. Snivellus….Oh god, the horror dawned on her. Now she remembered him, the dark Slytherin boy who was a year above her. The same boy she used to follow around and watch from the sidelines. Hopefully he wouldn't remember her.

"Your name," came Snape's voice cutting through her thoughts. He was giving her a hard scowl while tapping his fingers impatiently on the table.

"Eliza Slope," She answered. Embarrassment washed over her again and again as memories from their school days flashed by in her mind. She had been a quiet, reserved student in those days, so perhaps he wouldn't recognize her. Besides, as she remembered, he had been too preoccupied with that Gryffindor girl to notice anyone else.

Eliza sat upright in her chair, nervously jiggling her leg under the table. She chewed on a nail (a recently developed habit) and watched Snape as he looked at her thoughtfully, trying to connect her name to any past acquaintances.

"I remember a Uriah Slope in my year, Ravenclaw I think, any relation?" Snape asked.

Eliza looked away for a moment. After all these years, his name still choked her up. Swallowing hard, she turned to answer him.

"He is – was – my husband," She answered, her eyes getting a bit watery.

"I'm sorry," Snape said swiftly, a little color creeping onto his sallow cheeks.

Eliza shrugged, desperately wanting to get off the topic. "Well, it has been several years since he passed. Anyway, tell me more about you. How long have you worked at Hogwarts?

Picking up on Eliza's attempted diversion, Snape resumed his hard glare. "I believe we were discussing your poor muggle disguise. Tell me, why would you continue growing magical herbs, and brewing potions I assume, if you are trying to be a muggle?"

Eliza bit her lip as she tried to come up with an answer to his question. "Um, well I guess the best answer would be that muggle medicine is terrible and I don't want to leave the fate of my health in the hands of these 'doctors'."

Snape's eyes flashed at this answer and his snarl intensified. Eliza whimpered slightly and drew back in her chair. She quickly became very interested in the burn mark on her wooden table, anything to avoid meeting his vicious glare.

"So it was you that night. I knew it was but I couldn't believe that a common witch could heal those wounds," he said, his voice low and menacing.

Eliza was angered by his words. "A common witch indeed," she snapped. "I worked at St. Mungo's before I came here. My research was some of the most advanced in my department and I was made a healer before I had even graduated Hogwarts!"

Snape stared at her, quite surprised by her spirited reaction. He was more shocked by the gentle woman's sudden change in demeanor that he was by the news about her prodigious healing abilities. For just a moment, he allowed a smirk to touch his lips as he watched Eliza huff in irritation at him. Her pale green eyes where wide and fierce, which reminded him a bit of Lily's emerald eyes. He always like seeing her fired up about something she felt strongly about, especially when she was ranting about the pompous Potter.

The memories of his former friend wiped away the brief smirk and he narrowed his gaze once again.

"You expect me to believe that the ministry actually licensed you to practice medicine before graduating Hogwarts? As I recall, healers must complete seven additional years of medical training and another three- year apprenticeship before licensure. "

"I don't really care what you believe and I am not going to explain myself to you. For your information, you weren't complaining the other night when saved your life!" Eliza was now quite angry and was ready to remove the infernal man from her house, even if she had to use her wand. Snape sat back in his chair and regarded her for a moment.

"You're right," he replied softly ", and I thank you for saving me." Snape looked up at Eliza and watched her eyes soften with surprise. She relaxed slightly and glanced away from him. He was being his unpredictable self again and Eliza couldn't handle it. She preferred his sneers over the sincerity that his face now held. She wanted him to growl, snarl, yell, anything but let his guard down even if it was for a moment of gratefulness for the service she had rendered.

"I would have done it for anybody," she murmured, still looking away from him. Under the table, her leg began jiggling again.

Snape stiffened as he noticed her response. It was rare that he thanked people or showed any sort of appreciation. He felt a sharp pang in his chest as he absorbed the rejection. She had pushed away his genuine self in favor of his harsh impenetrable exterior, just as every other person he had ever dealt with did.

Snape quickly stood, his height and black robes making him loom intimidatingly over Eliza. She also stood, returning his expression with one equally as fierce. He was slightly taken aback by her glare which suddenly seemed so similar to the same biting expression that he often saw on Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy.

Without so much as a goodbye, he swooped out of the tiny kitchen and marched across the yard to his own house. Eliza released the breath that she had been holding and melted into her chair. This had been the worst encounter yet and Eliza could not find anything redeemable about the man. She felt bad about brushing off his recognition for her saving him, but it was so unnerving for her to see him in such a light.

Peeping through her window, Eliza saw Snape pacing angrily in his living room. She knew that this wouldn't be her last encounter with her disagreeable neighbor, but she prayed that it would be the last time she ever had to converse with Severus Snape.


	6. Family Reunion

King's Cross Station seemed to be extra busy with families of wizards pushing their carts through the muggle crowds. Eliza was amazed that the station remained relatively unchanged since she had last been there to travel to Hogwarts for her final year. Looking over at Melanie and her parents, Eliza could see that they were equally awestruck by the massive station.

She hadn't planned on accompanying Melanie to the train station, in fact, Eliza flat out refused multiple times. But on the final day before the September first departure, she received a letter, via owl post, from Albus Dumbledore. He requested that she guide Melanie through the process of going to Hogwarts for the first time since her parents were muggles and it was just too convenient that she lived nearby. Eliza gritted her teeth and crumpled the letter after reading it. She was frustrated with the situation, knowing that Dumbledore had good reason to burden her with the request but she had no desire to comply. After all these years of isolation, Eliza was being dragged back to Hogwarts and wizard society without so much as a "Hi, how have you been?"

With Dumbledore's sudden contact, Melanie's descent into wizard community, and the confessions to her wizard neighbor about her own abilities, Eliza was beginning to think Spinner's End was a bad idea. Maybe she should have tried El Salvador, or Mongolia. Hell, even Antarctica would have been a better choice than this magic infested community. Besides, it was extremely difficult to get the headmaster at her school to understand why she would be missing the first day of class ( something teachers should never do) and she resorted to using a confundus charm to secure a day off. She really hated doing that.

It had been exactly seven days since Eliza had spoken to Severus Snape and she wasn't feeling any better about the encounter. Her temper flared when she remembered his insults. She was mortified when she thought about what his reaction would be when he finally realized who she had been in their youth. She felt guilty about taking his thanks so lightly. No matter which way she thought about it, nothing positive seemed to surface about her meeting with the potions master.

Eliza felt Melanie tug on her hand, drawing her away from her thoughts, and heard the girl squeal in excitement as they approached platform 9. There were a few other wizard families gathered near the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Eliza could recognize them by their stacks of luggage topped with owls in cages and by the unusual assortment of muggle clothes that many of them donned. She snickered a bit to herself as she pictured Snape and his bat robes trying to blend into the muggle crowd here at the station.

"It says on the ticket that I'm supposed to get on at platform 9 ¾. Where is that? All I see is 9 and 10," Melanie said, a bit of worry creeping into her voice.

"No problem," said Eliza, "Just walk directly into the barrier and it'll let you through."

Melanie stared at her as though she was insane.

" You want me to walk straight into a brick wall?"

"Yes and make sure to hold on to your parents so they can get through too," Eliza said. Melanie stayed rooted to the spot. There was no way that she was going to make a fool of herself by bouncing off solid walls.

"Watch these people," Eliza sighed, pointing out a red haired lady and her children. Melanie watched intently as they casually leaned against barrier and quickly sunk into the brick. She gasped and jumped back slightly.

"Now it's your turn. It's easier to go at it with a bit of a run," Eliza said. Melanie put on a determined look, grasped her mother's hand and her father's arm (he was pushing her cart) and began to run towards the wall. As predicted, she went right through to Platform 9 ¾. Eliza followed after them and they began walking towards the train.

As they walked, Eliza saw the red-headed group, this time they were joined with a black haired boy and a big black dog. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the gathering. The dog looked familiar to her. Eliza shook her head to eliminate the thought. There was no way that Sirius would do something stupid like go to such a public place if he was on the run.

Moving past the family and the dog, Eliza led Melanie and her parents over to the red Hogwarts Express. Together, they help Melanie load her luggage onto the train. Melanie clung to her parents, promising to write every day and to be good and to brush her teeth, the usual. With misty eyes, she turned to Eliza.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Slope for everything," She said, hugging her teacher tightly. "I'll write to you too. I hope it is as wonderful as you say."

"It'll be better than what you can possibly imagine," Eliza said, her voice thick as she tried to hide the emotions she was feeling too. She definitely didn't expect to get choked up over Melanie's departure.

The girl climbed onto the train and leaned out of the window to wave a final goodbye. The train began to pull away and Melanie's parents embraced to each other as they watched her leave. They were proud of their daughter, it shone all over their faces. Eliza looked at them sadly. She wanted so bad to tell them about Voldemort and the possibility of his return but she knew that it wouldn't be prudent to tell them without knowing the truth herself.

Turning away from them, in the cloud of steam left behind by the train, she saw the dog again. This time it was alone and looking at her, its head tilted to one side. She stared back trying to see if it really was Sirius under the fur. Slowly, the dog walked up to her. It began sniffing her hand and as the recognition sunk in, the dog's gray eyes lit up in excitement. He gave a sharp bark and jumped up, resting his paws on Eliza's shoulders. She was quite surprised by this response and before she could push him down, Sirius gave her an affection lick on the cheek. Eliza jumped back and Sirius returned to all fours, wagging his tail excitedly.

Just then, a tall shabby looking man walked up with an old lady wearing a strange purple hat. Eliza immediately recognized the man as one of her cousin's best friends but she couldn't place his name. She wanted nothing more than to disappear at that moment. Careful not to look directly at the man, she began to back away.

"You need to control your dog," she said coldly, adopting the same tone that Snape had used with her the week before. Sirius stopped wagging his tail and a hurt expression settled in his eyes. Eliza gave him a momentary sympathetic look and quickly turned to walk away. Motioning for the Davenports to follow she stalked off to the barrier to return to the muggle world.

Eliza remained silent during the ride home. The events of the day kept circulating through her mind. She couldn't believe that Sirius was there and that he was happy to see her. Even worse, she couldn't believe that he was there with his friend, one of the marauders. It seemed odd the that shabby man, Reamus Lupin as she later recalled, would be associating with the man responsible to the death of their so-called best friend.

But the part that really bothered her about seeing Sirius that day was the black haired boy he was with. She wasn't sure, but the boy looked a lot like James Potter and was around the right age. She suspected that this boy was non-other than the famous Harry Potter. Considering everything that had happened to the boy, Eliza wondered why on Earth Harry would be hanging around the murderous Sirius Black. Was there more to the story or was the boy truly nutters as the papers claimed?


	7. The Inevitable

True to her word, Melanie wrote to Eliza detailing everything that was happening at Hogwarts. She had been sorted into Ravenclaw (which Eliza had thoroughly expected) and was immediately taken under the wing of a rather unusual fourth year named Luna. She wrote about her classes (charms and transfiguration were her favorites) and about the teachers. Melanie had been quite surprised to discover that the creepy black-cloaked man that lived next door to Eliza was none other than the potions master, Professor Snape.

Apparently, Snape was as awful in class as he was outside of school. Melanie wrote of one particularly embarrassing event when her class was making boil cure potion and the person sitting next to her knocked an entire bottle of dried nettles into her caldron. The resulting smell was so offensive that Melanie could no longer keep her lunch down and she managed to vomit all over Professor Snape's robes. Although she narrowly missed detention for that one, the points he took away ensured that Ravenclaw would be nowhere near winning the house cup at the end of the year. Even though Melanie painted an awful picture of the potions master, Eliza could not hold back a smile as she pictured the incident in her head.

Melanie also described the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Delores Umbridge. Eliza was horrified when she learned that Umbridge had been appointed to the post. Several years before, when Eliza sought early medical licensure, the toad-like woman had exercised every move within her power to prevent it from happening. Luckily, Eliza's father was a renowned contributor to the hospital and with a discreet donation to Umbridge's Gringotts account, the desired certification was granted. Eliza did feel a bit guilty about the bribery, but she knew that Delores Umbridge was a detestable excuse of a witch who was playing an age-old game. And when Melanie told Eliza about Umbridge's refusal to teach actual defense spells in class, Eliza was ready to make the trek to Hogwarts and give the woman, and perhaps Dumbledore a piece of her mind. What were they playing at, denying the children basic defense skills when there was as much as hint of Voldemort's return?

But other than a few unpleasant teachers, Melanie thoroughly enjoyed being at Hogwarts. She loved the sprawling grounds that led to the lake. She loved watching Quidditch with her friends and often wrote about various broom models and complicated flying moves (Eliza was very surprised by her interest in Quidditch since she never seemed to enjoy sports before). She loved the castle and all of its magnificent murals, trick staircases, and dark passageways. But most of all, Melanie loved the library.

In her letters, Melanie described her hours spent between the aisles of dusty books, pouring over centuries old tomes, greedily absorbing every ounce of knowledge she could soak up from the ancient text. She had memorized Hogwarts: A History and was soon pouring over volumes of wizard lore and ancient, outdated spells.

In the library, she soon fell in with some fifth year Gryffindors who were busily studying for their O.W.L. s. It had begun when a young lady named Hermione Granger helped her find a book on the goblin wars and the pair fell into a deep conversation on the ethical treatment of non-human magical creatures. After that day, Melanie would sit with Hermione and her two best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. She usually read silently while they discussed things that she didn't understand. Most of their discussions seemed to revolve around Harry and how nobody believed his assertions about Voldemort returning and how his scar was hurting frequently for unknown reasons. During these conversations, Melanie kept her nose buried in whatever book she was reading, but her inquisitive ears caught what they were saying. Writing to Eliza allowed Melanie to say what she thought about Harry Potter and his terrible claims. Melanie believed every word that Harry said because it made sense with the evidence put before her. Not growing up in the wizard world, where the ministry pushed slander rather than the truth, Melanie was able to see the cold, hard facts. Voldemort had in fact returned and Melanie was prepared to do whatever possible to bring him down once more.

This news saddened Eliza. Even though she was pleased that Melanie had taken the high road and chose to face the evil rather than side with it, she hated it that the eleven year old had to face such a decision. The girl should have been experiencing the joy of learning about magic and exploring the fun side of her talents rather than worrying about the possibility that a wizard kind was on the brink of another war.

But the worst thing about Melanie's belief in Harry was the fact that it confirmed Eliza's worst fear. The Dark Lord had in fact returned. This revelation brought back the very worst memories that Eliza had. Her nights were spent thrashing, screaming, crying as she dreamed. She dreamed of patients being brought into St. Mungo's , their bodies mangled beyond recognition. She dreamed of her family, her sisters screaming at her for failing to stick with the pure-blood tradition. She dreamed of burying her cousin Regulus after he abandoned the Dark Lord's cause. And when Eliza thought she could take it no more, she dreamed of that fateful night, the night everything was lost.

During the war, Eliza had one obsession. She refused to take sides, afraid that her allegiance to Voldemort or to the Order of the Phoenix might destroy her happy family and career. But Eliza still felt like she had to do something, and even though it was not as brave or heroic as Sirius' foolish actions, her plan had a huge impact on deterring the Dark Lord. At least it would have if things had not gone so wrong.

Her weapon of choice was a potion. All they needed was a potion to prevent the drinker from being killed by Voldemort's preferred spell, Avada Kedavra. And perhaps the potion could revive those who had been hit with the dreadful spell if it was administered within minutes of death. As simple as the plan sounded, such a potion was so complex that no one else dared attempt it. Eliza was the right person for the job and she threw herself into the work, often disappearing for great lengths of time into the research lab at St. Mungo's

On the home front, Eliza's obsession was the only thing that she and her husband fought about. Of course Uriah wanted her to be successful, it would be terrible to want her to fail, but he was also concerned about her well-being. The long hours she spent at the hospital were draining, and she was pulling further and further away from her family. On top of everything, she was missing out on so many of her infant son's milestones. Young Leonidas had said his first word, taken his first steps, and Eliza missed those moments when she was holed up in the lab. Uriah loved his wife and was proud of her ambition, but he needed her at home too.

But when July 14 rolled around, the night of Eliza's twentieth birthday, she decided to do what Uriah had been begging her to do all year: take a night off and spend some time with the family. It was a wonderful night of good food and birthday cake. The three of them cuddled on the sofa and for a moment, Eliza forgot about the war raging on outside their home.

But shortly after settling Leonidas in his crib, Eliza received an urgent message from the hospital. There had been a massive attack on muggle borns and everyone was needed to help sort out the mess. Uriah understood, although he was undoubtedly disappointed, and he let her leave without argument.

The hospital was indeed a mess of injured witches and wizards, many of them severely mangled and burned. As the hours ticked by, Eliza sealed wounds and fed blood replenishing potions, desperately trying to avoid the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She just knew that something was terribly wrong at home, and unable to stand it any longer, Eliza fled the hospital

Before her was a massive blaze, her home had been incinerated by magical fire. Above the scene, the Dark Mark glowed as brightly as the flames below. She ran towards her burning home, praying that Uriah had made it out with Leonidas. With her eyes on the flames as she ran, she stumbled on something in her front yard. Looking down, she saw the most terrible sight. Lying out on the freshly-mowed lawn was her husband; his eyes closed and in his arms was the baby who also appeared to be sleeping. She screamed their names as she tried to revive them but it was too late. The spell she was working so hard to deflect had taken the lives of the people she loved most.

Eliza had no idea how long she clutched her small family to her and cried. She had no idea who took her away or even how the next few days transpired. At the funeral, she was numb as she watched her husband and son being lowered into the ground. There were very few people there since Uriah had no living family members and they were never very popular. Just Eliza's sister Andromeda came, and her young pink-haired child, although Eliza did not know her name. Sirius also made a brief appearance, standing at the edge of the cemetery but not coming in to give condolences. Years later, Eliza was touched that some of her family had made an effort, but at the funeral she sought comfort in nobody. Instead, Eliza ran away. She left it all behind and found a new home on Spinner's End, away from magic and danger, the perfect place to wallow in grief.

But as Eliza read Melanie's letters and as she revisited the worst of her nightmares over and over again, she realized something. Eliza realized that Spinner's End was not the safe haven she thought it was all these years. The time had come for her to move again and hide herself more thoroughly. Or she could rise up against the evil and take back everything she had lost. She needed answers and she knew that there was only one place to get them. Looking over at her neighbor's dark house, Eliza needed desperately to talk to Severus Snape. They were only a month into the new term, but winter holidays, which would be the next time Snape would be coming home, couldn't come soon enough.

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><p>an: Thank you everyone for the reviews and favorite adds! I really appreciate it! This is my first fanfic so feel free to tell me what you think :)


	8. An Invitation

The first week of October was terrible for poor Eliza. Melanie's revelation paired with the nightmares made Eliza quite grouchy. At school, her lessons were deflated and monotone; nothing like her usual lively lessons. She snapped at the children for minor infractions when she was at the front of the classroom and let them play at their desks when they should have been working. Even the other faculty members noticed her odd behavior and on more than one occasion, it was suggested that she take a personal day to relax.

When Friday finally arrived, everyone was looking forward to Eliza going home. She knew that she was being unusually cranky and felt bad for her students and colleagues. As she left the school and began walking home, Eliza wondered if her students now had an idea what it was like to be Professor Snape's class. Despite her irritability, the thought that she was adopting some of her neighbor's teaching habits brought a small smile to her face.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as she unlocked front door to her cottage and hung her coat on the hook. Kicking off her shoes, Eliza headed into the kitchen to make a cup of tea, or maybe a strong glass of whiskey. Opening the kitchen door, Eliza screamed when she spotted three men seated at her table. Standing frozen in the doorway, she quickly calculated whether it would be safer to run back into the living room or to dive across the room and dig her wand out of the drawer.

As she made for the drawer, the older man with a wooden leg and rolling blue eye lunged forward.

"Don't even think about it, Missy," he barked, pointing his own wand at her. Eliza glared back at him but his stance didn't change. Looking over his shoulder she saw that the other two men were Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Her eyes widened when they landed on her cousin.

"What is he doing here!" She shrieked at the man whom she recognized to be Mad-eye Moody. "How dare you bring a murderer into my house!"

"It's not like that Eliza," Sirius said softly as he stood up. Eliza jumped back. Seeing her fear, Sirius sat back down and gave her a pleading look.

"Sit down," Moody directed, pushing her towards a chair. "you are going to hear us out."

Eliza crossed her arms tightly across her chest and fixed a hard glare on each of them. Seeing that she was ready to listen, Lupin leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table.

"Well I guess we should begin by explaining Sirius' innocence," he started, casting Sirius a weary look. It was getting tiresome explaining how the man had been falsely accused of his crimes and with the ministry's recent slander it was no wonder Eliza was afraid of her own family member.

"No, you should start by explaining how the hell you got into my house. I'm not on the Floo network and I know he is not supposed to be out and about," Eliza said, her eyes darting back to Sirius.

"Oh that," Lupin said, a little surprised by her concerns. "We just used Snape's fireplace and then broke in over here. It was really easy. We're going to have to set you up with some better wards." Eliza huffed a bit at his suggestion that her house wasn't properly secured. Of course he was probably right since until now she had never felt the need to use anything more than the deadbolts on her front and back doors.

"Anyway, fourteen years ago, Lily and James Potter assigned Sirius to be their secret keeper. But to avoid interception by Voldemort, they decided to have Peter Pettigrew be their secret keeper instead."

"That little creepy boy you used to run around with?" Eliza asked. "But he was the one that Sirius killed."

Lupin shook his head. "No, he faked his death. After Peter turned over the information to Voldemort and Lily and James were killed, Sirius confronted Peter outside the home."

"I would have killed him if that damn rat hadn't of gotten away," Sirius snarled, shaking his head at the memory.

"But the muggles, there were a bunch of muggles there too. He blasted them away," Eliza said, jerking her head towards her cousin.

"That was Peter too. He turned against us all," Lupin said softly. Eliza stared at the table as the news sunk in. She didn't like the explanation but she knew that there was truth behind it. Sirius had been so dedicated to the cause, there was no way that he would turn his back on his best friends. Eliza had been quite shocked at the time, and now as Remus described the events, she knew it was so easy to believe because it was true. As hard as she tried to remain skeptical, she knew that they were right. Sirius was innocent.

"So why are you here now," She asked wearily. Lupin and Sirius exchanged a brief look of elation, thrilled that she was quick to accept their explanation.

"We are here to extend an invitation," Sirius said smiling widely. Eliza was his second favorite cousin, even though they hadn't spent much time together since they were children, and it felt good to have her approval once again.

"I don't get out much," She replied icily.

"It's not a social invitation," growled Moody. "We need your services in the Order of the Phoenix."

"No," she answered blankly. The three men all stared at her in surprise. With her quick acceptance of Sirius, they had expected her to follow it up by joining the Order. It was a little foolish to think she might be ready to help considering she had refused the last time Voldemort was powerful, but hope in the time of war can be a powerful thing.

"You know Voldemort is back," said Sirius, leaning forward. "You know what he is capable of. Why wouldn't you want to fight back."

"Because it is safe here. Voldemort is not going to come walking down Spinner's End looking for muggle-borns."

"But what about Uriah and Leonidas, did they die in vain," Sirius whispered, bracing himself for Eliza's reaction.

"Do not bring my husband and son into this," Eliza said her voice now quite deadly. Lupin fidgeted with his cuff, clearly uncomfortable with the change in Eliza's voice. Moody tightened his grip on his wand. But Sirius remained stone-faced, meeting Eliza's hard glare, which now greatly resembled to icy scowls of Narcissa and Bellatrix.

"Why not?" challenged Sirius. "Were they not enough to motivate you? I survived Azkaban on the memories of Lily and James, isn't vengeance alone enough?"

"I didn't join the Order before and I'm not going to do it now!" Eliza shouted, her eyes now blazing. How dare these men come into her house and expect her to just throw away the security she had built up just to join a futile war. Even worse, how dare Sirius throw her late husband and son in the mix. It was bad enough that she had lost them, now she was expected to use them as a motivating force to propel her into a fight she wanted no part in?

The room was silent for a few long moments as Eliza and Sirius gave each other their best Black family glares. Finally, Lupin cleared his throat loudly, trying to diffuse the tension. He had long ago concluded that the Black's thrived on theatrics and that fighting would get them nowhere.

"C'mon, she's not going to do it," Moody grumbled as he grabbed hold of Sirius' collar. Sirius allowed himself to be pulled up from the chair and away from the table.

"Dumbledore wanted you to have these," said Lupin, dropping a thick stack of parchment on the table. "He thought you might want to look them over." Eliza jerked her head in response, not wanting to look at any of her intruders. Lupin slouched his shoulders in defeat and turned to leave with Moody.

"If you ever changed your mind, just show up at the old house, you remember the address, right?" Sirius said. "Just show up and it'll let you in." Eliza continued to look away from him as he started to follow Lupin and Moody out the door.

"One more thing," Sirius said after the other two men walked outside. He tossed the morning paper from London on the table. "It's happening again. Just like before." With that, he turned and walked towards the door, transforming into his dog form just before exiting.

Eliza snatched the paper off of the table. It was just the muggle news, but inside, under crime reports, she found listings of several house fires across the country. All of the inhabitants were killed in each of these fires. The authorities were stumped by this sudden surge of arson and were seeking any information regarding the events. The very last report brought Eliza face-to-face with a muggle family portrait. The picture was of a young couple and their infant son who looked to be around the same age that Leonidas was when he died. Like her own son, this baby had a shock of black hair and pale eyes. He was smiling and deep dimples sunk into his cheeks. Below the picture was an article describing how the young family had perished in a house fire also caused by arson. Above the house, in a rare moment of beauty in the midst of tragedy, there was the most unusual light display. Eliza felt her stomach in her throat as she realized that muggles couldn't see the shape of the Dark Mark, just the light.

Throwing the paper aside, she grabbed the stack of parchment that Lupin had brought. Rifling through the old pages, Eliza recognized her notes, her pages of research from fourteen years before. Her eyes stung as she looked at the notes and back at the muggle family in the picture.

It was not fair. Why couldn't she just have a peaceful, quiet life that was free from meddling, magic, and Voldemort? Why did Sirius have to come back? Why did she have to live next door to Snape? Why did Melanie have to be one of her former students?

As she continued to look back and forth between the photo and her notes, Eliza knew that there was no escaping Voldemort. It was no safer to be a muggle than a witch so it was better off having magic on her side.

Collecting her papers up into her arms, Eliza started walking down the hallway to her small bathroom. In the back of the cupboard was a very special potion that Eliza had brewed when she first moved to Spinner's End.

Desperate to push away any connection to the wizard world, Eliza had developed a potion that would shut out her memories. It made her forget how to use magic (except the spells she chose to remember), it made her forget people, and it made her forget the happiness that magic brought her. The potion had been quite effective and lasted much longer than Eliza had anticipated. But the night that Snape had landed in his front yard near dead, the potion began breaking down and Eliza remembered the things she tried to forget.

Even though the potion was continuing to fall apart, she was still foggy about some memories. She couldn't quite remember how to transfigure things or certain charms. She couldn't remember the healers she worked with at the hospital or the faces of her classmate. Occasionally, a name would come back; a glimmer of a memory, but it was usually gone as quick as it came. But ever since that night, when her defenses were down and instinct kicked in, she remembered one classmate more than ever: Severus Snape.

There in her bathroom cupboard sat the potion she needed, the reversal to her memory blocker. Eliza gave the bottle a wry smile as she read the label. Invitation is what she called it because she would be inviting her memories to return after a long absence. How funny, she thought as she tipped back the swirling sliver liquid, two invitations in one day.

Eliza collapsed onto the bathroom floor after drinking the potion. She clutched her head and gritted her teeth as the memories came flooding back. She had no idea how long it took for her memories to be replenished, she felt like she was writhing on the floor for days. Her ears boomed with voices she hadn't heard in fourteen years. She remembered being taunted and teased for her skinny legs and awkward ways. She remembered long hours spent studying in the library while others were watching Quidditch or romping about in Hogsmeade. She remembered watching him, Severus, as he followed Lily like a lost puppy, only to be tormented by the marauders. She remembered everything.

At last the room seemed to stop spinning and the voices quieted down. She slowly opened her eyes to see a set of hard black eye staring back at her. She wondered what memory this could be and began to slip back into the roaring flood of voices from before. She heard a low murmur and the noise stopped again. The eyes were still there and Eliza realized that they did not belong to a memory, that Severus Snape was in fact there above her, bring her back to the present.


	9. Assistance

Severus Snape loomed over Eliza as she lay on the floor. She stared at him, her green eyes wide as he reached down and pulled her up into a seated position. Kneeling beside her, he ran his long fingers over her head, carefully feeling for any bumps or cuts she might have received from falling on the bathroom tile. Eliza felt a slight flutter down her spine as his fingers moved through her hair, but she quickly pushed the sensation aside and focused on the probing black eyes that were watching her.

"What were you thinking," he hissed after he surmised that she had not received a concussion from her fall. She opened her mouth to answer but no sound came out. Eliza pointed to her throat, motioning that she was thirsty. Snape filled a cup that had been sitting on the sink with water from his wand even though the facet was just a few inches away.

"Why on Earth would you drink a potion that hasn't been tested? It was poison you know. You are lucky that I showed up when I did," he said as she greedily gulped the water. She handed the empty cup back to him and he filled it again.

"You had a bezoar," she croaked. It was more of a statement than a question. He gave a short nod in response.

"You have not answered my question. What were you thinking?"

Slowly, Eliza tried to pull herself up into a standing position, but her legs were shaky and her head was spinning. Grabbing hold of her arm, Snape helped Eliza get balanced on her feet. He led her, half carrying her, into the bedroom across the hall.

Sitting down on the bed, Eliza motioned for Snape to sit in the old rocking chair in the corner but he chose to remain standing in front of her.

"It was the boomslang skin," she said, finally. "It goes bad after a few years. I guess fourteen years makes it poisonous."

"Obviously," Snape answered, his lip curling up into a sneer. "I would have thought that a potions genius such as yourself would have figured that out on your own. That still doesn't answer my question. Why were you drinking the potion?"

Eliza gave him a weak smile. "Well I guess I would have thought of the boomslang skin if hadn't of blocked my memories."

"What do you mean?" Snape asked, his sneer faltering slightly.

"That potion was the reversal for one that I had taken fourteen years ago," She whispered. "The first one block the things I wanted to forget and the second let them back in."

Eliza watched as Snape's expression changed from disdain to shock to horror in reaction to her words. He stared back at her for several long minutes as he tried to formulate his next question.

"What could have happened that would make you want to forget everything?" he asked softly. For a moment, Eliza thought she saw empathy, perhaps compassion, lurking in his cold black eyes. She quickly dismissed the idea. There was a time, years ago, when she thought she saw something in Severus Snape but she had been wrong then and she was most certainly wrong now. He was as cold and heartless now as he was fourteen years ago.

Eliza glanced sideways at him. She was taking a chance but she had to ask. "What happened to you that night?" she asked, her voice just a whisper. "You are lucky I remembered those spells."

Snape's eyes widened and his nostrils flared. She was in no position to be bargaining with him and yet she dared to deflect his question by one of her own. He knew this game and as much as he wanted to turn around and leave, the headmaster had sent him to Eliza's home for a reason, although he still wasn't sure what that reason was.

"If you don't want to answer then fine I won't make you," Snape said bitingly. "But when the Dumbledore hears about this he is not going to be happy."

"Well I guess you could say it is his fault that I drank the potion," Eliza replied. Her head was beginning to hurt from the interrogation and she just wanted Snape to leave so she could sift through the memories in peace.

"Why are you here, Severus?" she asked. Snape flinched slightly when she said his name. He was not used to hearing people call him by his first name. Most of the time people called him Professor or some other terrible name based on his hair or awful nose. But the way she said his name just then, weary and resigned, it was as though she had known him for years and they were old friends.

Snape finally decided to sit in the old rocking chair, perching stiffly on the front edge. He looked uncomfortable.

"The Headmaster seemed to think that you wanted to talk to me," He said, fixing his hard black eyes on her again. His stare seemed to intensify and Eliza squirmed under his invasive gaze. She felt like he was trying to pull the answers from her before she could say anything. Eliza wasn't sure if he was using legilimency, but she put up her occlumency shield anyway. Snape flinched again and Eliza gave him a triumphant smirk.

"Yes I do want to talk to you, about many things actually, but I don't think now is a good time," She answered.

"Does it have anything to do with this?" he asked, producing the thick stack of parchment that Eliza had been holding when she drank the potion.

Her eyes grew wide and she reached toward the stack, wiggling her fingers to show that she wanted the papers.

"Explain," he demanded as her handed the pages of notes to her.

"It's my research from years ago. Apparently Dumbledore wants me to resume my work. He has already had the Order in here pestering me to join, and now you," she answered.

"And what exactly does this research entail?" he asked, the sneer creeping back on his face. Eliza could hear the resignation in his voice. It was as though he expected Eliza, or even Dumbledore to request his services. She speculated that this wasn't the Headmaster's first entreaty on the potions master's expertise.

Eliza looked at him thoughtfully. She hadn't considered working with a partner on this project, but with his extensive potions knowledge and Dark Arts background, he would be the ideal consultant for the work. Of course she still didn't know which side held his loyalties. She wasn't quite ready to share the work, not until she knew his intentions.

"It's a very complex issue but I don't want to get into it today. Let me look over the old notes and make some revisions, then maybe, I will pick your brain about it," she said lightly trying to mask the suspicion in her voice. She just couldn't trust him yet.

"You would like to 'pick my brain'. Well Mrs. Slope, as much as I would enjoy playing potions with you, I do not possess the time nor the suicidal tendencies to join you," he said coldly.

"Don't worry, Professor, I won't be burdening you with any work that is beneath you. I am only interested in your extensive knowledge of the unforgivable curses," she said, matching his icy tone.

Again, for just a moment, Eliza thought she saw emotion lurking behind his hard eyes. But this time it was hurt that moved through, passing as quickly as it appeared. Eliza bit her lip, wishing she could take back the words. She hadn't intended to be so harsh and the way she had phrased her last comment sounded like she just wanted to use him. It did seem a little odd though that a Death Eater would be offended by her mentioning his knowledge of the unforgivable curses.

"Look professor, I would like to talk to you again, about many things, but first I need to speak with Dumbledore. I have just taken a brutal potion that apparently poisoned me and I have a lot of memories to deal with," Eliza said hoping to satiate him for the time being. Snape nodded curtly and stood up, his bat-like robes swirling around him and making him more intimidating than before.

"I will be at Hogwarts. When you decide that I am worth your time, you may contact me there," he said stiffly before swooping out of the room.

Eliza listened for the slam of her front door as he left and jumped out of bed. Grabbing a pen and paper, she began furiously scribbling a note to Dumbledore. About halfway through, she stopped and mentally smacked herself on the forehead. In the mess of freshly restored memories she had forgotten that she didn't own an owl, and although it would probably be acceptable for her to hand deliver the note to Hogwarts, Eliza thought it would be bad manners.

Finishing the note, Eliza knew that she would have to try another route. It may be bad manners to drop in on someone unexpectedly, but family didn't count. After quickly smoothing her hair and fetching her wand, Eliza made a bold attempt at apparition.

She was very lucky that she wasn't splinched, but nonetheless, Eliza landed on a lamp-lit London street, just in front of two houses numbered 11 and 13. As she stared at the homes, picturing number 12 that was simply hidden from view, Eliza wondered how she would be received here in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.


	10. A Second Chance

Eliza sat stiffly at the head of the long dining room table in Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Across from her, at the other end, sat Sirius who was on the receiving end of a rather fierce scowl. She wanted nothing more than to smack the triumphant smirk off his face. Even though she had been adamant in her refusal to join the Order, her dear cousin sitting across the table had played on her weakness and convinced her to return to the world of magic.

As Eliza continued to glare at Sirius, Molly Weasley bustled about, tidying the room before the other Order members arrived. Eliza wanted to tell her to sit down and quit worrying about others but she knew it would be no use. Molly was a mother to several children and her kind caring nature carried over to other areas of her life.

"You will be staying for dinner after the meeting, won't you dear?" Molly asked Eliza kindly.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm just here to borrow an owl," She answered, her voice wavering a bit when her stomach emitted a loud growl. Sirius grinned widely and leaned back in his chair.

"Nonsense. You look like you could use a good meal. Goodness knows what you've been eating all this time. Muggle cooking, indeed! There is no nourishment there." With that, Molly left to answer the doorbell.

Sirius shook his head as the woman left and chuckled a bit. "So you've come to borrow an owl. Are you sure that is the only reason you came?"

"Yes," answered Eliza tightly. She was beginning to regret this idea as Sirius continued to watch her with that insufferable knowing look.

Before she could snap at Sirius to put him in his place, Bill Weasley came in closely followed by Lupin and Moody. They each cast Eliza a curious glance before sitting down at the end of the table, closer to Sirius, and immediately struck up a conversation. Eliza crossed her arms tightly in front of her and began tapping her foot furiously on the floor. All she wanted was to borrow an owl and go home. She had no idea when she left her house that there was going to be a meeting and she really didn't want to participate.

Pretty soon the room was buzzing loudly as more members arrived. Kingsley Shaklebolt came in and clapped Eliza on the back, greeting her just as he did years before whenever he saw her at the ministry or St. Mungo's. Arthur Weasley came home, briefly stopping to kiss his wife on the cheek before sitting down beside Eliza and trying to engage her in a conversation about toasters.

The meeting was just about to begin when a loud crash came from the front hall, followed by the howling of Mrs. Black's portrait. Eliza snickered when she heard her aunt's tell-tale screeching and cast an amused glance at Sirius. He responded by rolling his eyes, shouting for the woman to shut up.

"That would be Tonks," Lupin murmured, grinning as she walked through the door. Eliza looked up at the late arrival and was quite surprised to see a young version of her sister Andromeda. Well, a young version with purple spiky hair. Of course, this would be the child that had attended the funeral all those years ago.

She watched as Tonks flashed a grin at Lupin before taking a seat beside Moody. Sirius cleared his throat loudly.

"Eliza, it is time that you met your niece, Nymphadora Tonks. Tonks, this is your Auntie Elazara Slope." Sirius' introduction was quickly followed by a loud cough as he tried to mask his laughter at their dagger-like glares. Both of the women dearly hated their first names and were quite irritated at their cousin for neglecting to use the proper monikers.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, "Tonks said shyly to Eliza. "My mother talks about you frequently. She has missed you all these years."

"And I have missed her," Eliza replied softly. "It is good to finally meet you too." The room was quiet for a moment as everyone enjoyed the endearing meeting. Eliza brought her hand to her mouth and began chewing on her nail. The situation was getting increasingly uncomfortable and as much as she wanted to finally meet her niece, she would have preferred not having an audience.

"Well, shall we begin?" Moody asked impatiently, unable to bear the sentimental nonsense much longer. "We have a lot to cover tonight now that we have a new member to catch up to speed." His magical blue eye rolled towards Eliza.

"I'm not joining," she interrupted. "I just came to borrow ..." Her voice trailed off at the end as eight sets of eyes glared back at her. The room was now deafeningly silent. Eliza looked down and nervously smoothed her skirt, praying that the others were not too angry with her. This was the reason she didn't want to come here. Everyone in the Order would want her unwavering support, something she wasn't ready to give.

Across the table, Sirius stood and walked over to where she was sitting.

"Come with me," he murmured as help helped her pull her chair back. He led her out of the room and as the door closed behind them the meeting resumed.

Silently, Sirius and Eliza walked down the hallway to the drawing room. It had been years since she had been in this room, not since she was about eight years old. As she looked at the sprawling Black family tree, running her fingers over the worn fabric, she remembered the last time they had visited.

It was the engagement party for eighteen year old Bellatrix which their aunt and uncle had graciously agreed to host. It had been a nice party, at least as nice as these sorts of snobbish parties could be. Shortly after dinner, as the guest settled into the parlor for drinks and conversation, Bella made another announcement. Along with her fiancé, she stood before the room and rolled back her sleeve to reveal her recently added Dark Mark.

Sirius' mother was proud to have a death eater for a niece and hoped that the other children would soon be joining. But Eliza's parents were not as proud of their daughter's decision. True, they hated the muggle-borns as much as the next self-entitled pureblood did, but the Dark Lord was not the answer to their problems. Even though they were not pleased with Bella's choice, in fiancé and allegiance, they stood silently by as she careened about the room, lapping up the attention she was getting for not one, but two announcements.

Only Andromeda had something to say, calling Bella out for her foolish decision in front of the entire crowd. The girls fought loudly, just as they had as children, and when wands were finally pulled, the other party goers jumped in to stop. The party ended abruptly and everyone hurried to get home from the disastrous celebration. That was the day Andromeda was wiped from the old tapestry and Eliza remembered seeing her aunt blasting the fabric just before being whisked away by her parents.

Sirius remained by the doorway as Eliza continued to trace the branches of the fabric, pausing over the burn marks that were Sirius, Andromeda, and finally, herself.

"I see I lost favor with your mother," She said, glancing over at Sirius.

"Thank Merlin for that," he said darkly. He stepped away from the doorway and joined her in front of the tapestry. Eliza turned back to the faces of her remaining sisters, Bellatrix's deranged expression and Narcissa with her usual blank stare.

Eliza reached out to touch Narcissa's picture. They were twins, although there had never been such opposite twins in existence. Eliza was a scrawny black-haired teen while Narcissa was developed and blond. Eliza delved into books and her studies, quickly surpassing her classmates and even those a few years above. Narcissa had set her sights on finding a pure-blood husband from a wealthy family. Eliza married the muggle-born Uriah Slope. Narcissa married Lucious Malfoy. They were nothing alike.

"How can we be so different?" She whispered to no one in particular. Narcissa had hated Eliza and constantly punished her for being different. Growing up, Eliza was called a freak and a weirdo by her sisters. They didn't understand her talents. When Andromeda left home, she had no one to defend her from Narcissa's jealousy and taunts. Although Eliza was clearly favored by her father, he spent long hours at work or with his business partners, barely sparing the time to make sure his daughters weren't trying to kill each other. At school, Narcissa led their housemates in torturing Eliza, but the other Slytherins left her alone after the first year because it was easier to just pretend she was invisible.

Sirius continued to stand silently beside Eliza, waiting for her to say the words.

"You're right, I didn't just come here to borrow an owl," she finally said. Walking away from the wall, she sat down on the dusty sofa and hugged her self tightly. Sirius sat down beside her and waited for her to continue.

"I want to try again, with the potion. What do I have to lose?" she asked. It was a depressing thought, really, but it was true. Eliza had nothing left to lose but herself and there was no one around to care if she was gone.

"Everything is worth losing if you are doing it because it is right," Sirius said, his gray eyes full of spirit. Eliza shook her head. She was always baffled by his constant need to justify idealism. Didn't he realize that this righteous attitude would get him killed? And who would care that Sirius Black died doing what was right?

"I wouldn't call it right," She said sadly "I'm only doing it because I failed the first time." The words burned as she spoke them. With a room full of people just down the hallway who were willing to give up their lives for the sake of wizard kind, she felt weak and cowardly.

Sirius bit back a retort. He never could understand how people could not be selfless. How could anyone resist trying to defeat the man who brutally murdered innocent people for his own sick pleasure?

"Why did you try before? Surely then you wanted to keep people from becoming Voldemort's victims," he said and Eliza could hear the venom in his voice. She shrugged.

"I didn't care about the people I was saving back then," she answered. " I just wanted the fame and glory. Can you imagine how famous I would have been if I could reverse the most finite spell out there?"

Sirius' eyes widened as he realized what his cousin was saying.

"So it was all about fame and power for you? That makes you no different than the Death Eaters," he said, his voice low and angry. Eliza rubbed her face with her hands and let out an exasperated sigh. Her green eyes blazed as she tried to find the words to explain.

"It was more than that. I care about people, really, but my ambition often overrode my emotions. I'm a Slytherin, that is my weakness. The research started out as a way to save people but it became something else. I became more concerned with success rather than how it affected the people around me. Maybe if I had worried more about my husband and child, rather than my work, they would still be here. That is where I failed. I failed to put any compassion in my work so I am going to try again."

Eliza was a bit out of breath when she ended her speech. She had not intended to unleash on Sirius like that, in fact, until the words came pouring out of her mouth, she wasn't sure why she wanted to pick up the work again. It was the guilt. Guilt for not being there when the Death Eaters showed up at her house, guilt for not being the wife and mother she should have been, guilt for not succeeding.

Sirius sat back to assess her. Her words still hung in the air and he was unsure how to react. True, her intentions were not as pure the Order's, but her heart was undoubtedly in the right place. She was not brave like those willing to put their lives on the line, but she was smart, unbelievably smart, and brain power was something they needed. Maybe with time she would find her way into the Order, but for now this research was a big step in the right direction.

"We'll give you a second chance, cousin," Sirius finally said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and putting on his most cheerful smile. "Now about that owl you needed…"

With her note on its way to Dumbledore, Eliza was able to breathe easier knowing that she would soon have the answers she needed to move forward with her work. But all through dinner she was quiet. She was thinking back on her last interaction with Snape. It seemed strange that he still didn't recognize her even though they definitely knew each other many years before. She was invisible at Hogwarts, so she was not surprised that he didn't remember seeing her in the common room, the library, the hospital wing. But there was another time, he should have recognized her, because she definitely remembered seeing his face. She may have had a potion to erase her memories but he didn't have an excuse.

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><p>AN: I took a little creative leeway with Andromeda being blasted from the tapestry ;)


	11. Meeting with Dumbledore

A/N: Sorry about taking so long to update, life got a little crazy. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to update as frequently this semester as I did before, but I will try :)

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><p>Eliza's steps slowed the closer she got to the front entrance of Hogwarts. The castle loomed darkly over her as she approached, casting a heavy shadow across the grounds. The day was cold and drizzly, intensifying her trepidation. There were no students roaming the grounds on such a dreary day, no doubt they were huddled by their common room fires studying.<p>

With a deep sigh, Eliza reached out and pulled open the door. Hogwarts' entrance was as deserted as the grounds had been. Eliza's flinched as her heels clicked loudly on the stone floor. In the eerie silence, her steps seemed to be amplified and she was sure that Mrs. Norris would come slouching around the corner to terrify her.

As Eliza began making her way toward the Headmaster's office, she reveled in the strangeness of being back in her old school. If someone had asked Eliza a few months before whether or not she would ever return to Hogwarts, she would have laughed at the absurdity of such a question. Yet despite all her resistance, she was now walking about the school as if she did it every day.

When Eliza finally reached the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office, she realized that she didn't have the password. Annoyed, she prodded the statue with her wand hoping to get it to move using other means. Much to Eliza's surprise, the gargoyle moved aside revealing the entrance to his office. At first she was shocked that her magic had triggered the gargoyle's response, but that was not the case. Instead, standing in the entrance that the statue guarded was none other than Severus Snape.

The pair stood frozen in shock, staring each other down. Instead of his usual sneer, Snape had a softer, more appreciative look. Before Eliza could even guess what his expression meant, the professor took a step closer to her.

"Well this is an improvement," he said softly, reaching out and touching the sleeve of her robes. Eliza's eyes bulged in surprise.

She was dressed in a high-necked black jacket that was fastened by a row of tiny buttons and a mid-calf length black skirt. With the ensemble, she wore a pair of black dragon hide boots that disappeared beneath her hemline. Her white hair was swept up on one side with a pearl encrusted comb, the single black streak pinned away from her face. True, Snape usually saw Eliza in her floral print muggle dresses and pastel colored cardigans. And true, she had opted to wear her robes now that she was in wizard territory. But his reaction was so out of character.

As she looked down at her clothing, she realized that her robes greatly resembled Snape's dungeon bat robes. The thought amused her, and much to her own mortification, Eliza laughed out loud. Snape frowned in response, not sure what Eliza found so funny.

"The Headmaster is waiting for you," he said coldly, obviously sore at her for laughing at him. Eliza nodded, her face quite red with embarrassment, and pushed past him into the office. These encounters with Snape never went well.

In his office, Dumbledore was standing over his penseive, staring into the swirling silver depths. Not sure what to do, Eliza stood stiffly in front of his desk, waiting for him to finish whatever he was doing.

"Please, sit down Mrs. Slope. I'll with you in a moment," Dumbledore said, without turning around. She quickly plopped down in a pink poufy chair and looked around the room. Eliza loved the headmaster's office and it had crossed her mind on more than one occasion that she would want to set up residence there herself someday. But the thought of dealing with dunderheads and insufferable brats quickly derailed that ambition.

After a few long minutes, the headmaster moved over to his desk and settled himself across from Eliza. He was silent for a moment, giving her one of his famous penetrating stares. Eliza immediately put up her occlumency shield; she was all too familiar with the old man's methods of extracting information. Instead of flinching like Snape had done before, Dumbledore sat back in his chair and chuckled.

"I see you still have it, even after all this time. You and Severus both have to most unreadable minds," He said, his blue eyes twinkling. Eliza frowned at him. She really hated it when people tried to test her abilities any time they wanted and Dumbledore was the worst offender.

"But some skills you have lost, I see," he continued, his gaze now falling on her white hair. "Such a pity, your metamorphosis abilities were really quite extraordinary."

"My niece, Tonks, she can do it too," Eliza said. "Do you think there is a genetic component? I have never heard of two in one family."

"No one knows for sure. Perhaps that is a future project. But we have more pressing issues at hand. I see you have decided to resume your research."

"Yes, I have taken your heavy-handed hints and will pick up where I left off," Eliza said, her voice edged with bitterness. Her tone did not go unnoticed by Dumbledore.

"Your letter indicated some reservation about your research, which is perfectly understandable. What is troubling you? Are you concerned for your safety?"

Eliza shook her head. "I am not worried about myself," She said quietly.

"Is it the resources? Do you need a work facility? Of course, Hogwarts is open to you and I am sure Severus—"

"Is exactly the problem," Eliza cut it. Her gaze hardened on the Headmaster and he drew back, his eyes studying her. He was trying to gauge her reaction, to decipher the meaning behind her words, but Eliza was as unreadable as ever.

"My dear girl, why would Severus be the problem? As I recall, you were quite studious when it came to him as a boy." Dumbledore's expression was serious but Eliza could hear the almost mischief dancing in his voice.

"Your professor has changed drastically since he was a boy," Eliza said. "And I would have looked past his Dark Mark and strange habits this summer if my memories had not returned."

Dumbledore cocked his head sideways. "What do you mean by your memories returning?"

Eliza hesitated. She wasn't sure if it was the best idea to tell the headmaster about her potions, but there was no other alternative.

"After Uriah and Leonidas died, I developed two potions. One to erase any memory that I wanted to eliminate and one to bring them back. I erased most of my knowledge of magic and the memories of school and people I knew. It lasted for several years but over the summer, it began breaking down and I caught glimpses of the past. When Sirius and the others brought my notes back to me, decided to drink the other potion and restore my memories."

Dumbledore remained silent as he digested the information. He sat with his hands steeped before him, watching Eliza with those piercing blue eyes.

"How did your memories returning affect your view of Severus?"

Eliza looked away. Her throat felt thick and her lip quivered slightly. This was harder to say than what she thought.

"I was prepared to let Severus' foolish actions go. I knew he was young and angry. I know that you trust him now, for whatever reason, but I can't help feeling like it's all a ruse."

"Well Mrs. Slope, I can tell you with great certainty that he is faithful to our side. He has been given the most difficult job in the Order and I don't doubt his loyalty," Dumbledore said, a frown tingeing his words.

"But how can you be sure, Professor? You yourself said that his mind is unreadable. How do you know if he is being true or if he is delivering Order secrets to the Dark Lord?" Eliza was fierce in her questioning. She had a difficult time trusting anybody and with Snape living a double life as a Death Eater, she was sure there was no way to believe in his allegiance.

Dumbledore stood quickly. He turned and walked away from the desk with his hands clasped behind him. He strode to the window to peer outside, watching as McGonagall argued with Umbridge in the courtyard below.

"Am I correct in assuming that you are the one who saved Severus' life this summer?" Dumbledore asked from the window.

"That is correct," answered Eliza.

"And in your professional opinion, would anyone but a madman return to the Dark Lord's service after receiving such injuries from him?"

"No, I suppose not."

"And in your professional opinion, is Severus a madman?"

Eliza did not answer. Dumbledore turned back toward her but remained by the window.

"There you have it Mrs. Slope, Severus is serving us in a way that few others can. This post takes immense strength of will and character along with skillful manipulation. I cannot picture anyone better suited for the job than him."

Eliza crossed her arms tightly and jiggled her foot in her usual nervous manner. She knew that Dumbledore was right about Severus being right for the job but there was something still bothering her.

"He was there," she whispered, not looking at anything in particular. "He was one of the Death Eaters outside my burning house. If he was capable of murder then, how do I know for sure he has changed?"

Dumbledore surveyed her silently, noting the stiff way she held her shoulders and the tear slipping down her cheek. He knew that this weighed heavily on her. Slowly, he walked over to the woman, gently placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Eliza, I know that this is a terrible revelation but you have to trust me when I say that Severus Snape is not the same man he was fourteen years ago. He has changed and has been doing everything within his power, and then some, to defeat Voldemort. I am asking you to help us because you have talents that most wizards can only dream of, but you have to put aside any doubt you have in Severus."

Eliza nodded slightly. She knew that there was truth in Dumbledore's words.

Once again, the headmaster sat behind his desk across from Eliza, reaching in one of the drawers, he reached in and pulled out an old leather bound book. _Severus Snape_ was embossed on the book's spine in faded black letters. Eliza gasped as she took it from his hands.

"How did you get a hold of this?" she sputtered. "I chucked in the room of requirement years ago."

"Ah, well some of these things have a way of resurfacing," he answered, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses. "I suggest that you resume some of your other experiments in addition to your potions work."

"No Professor, I can't –"Dumbledore held up a hand, cutting off Eliza's argument.

"Just think about it. It will help you learn to trust Severus again. Until then, I will allow you to continue your research. Feel free to use the library here at Hogwarts's as much as you need but I must recommend that you keep quiet about the nature of your work, particularly around Dolores Umbridge."

"You can count on that," muttered Eliza.

Dumbledore chuckled lightly. "Is there anything else you would like to discuss today?"

Eliza shook her head and stood. "Thank you Professor, I will begin reviewing my notes immediately."

"Shall I send Severus to help with the research?" Dumbledore asked hopefully.

"No, I will contact him if needed. I had best be going, I will show myself to the door," she said stiffly, collecting the old book and turning to leave the office.

"Thank you Mrs. Slope and good luck," Dumbledore called to her retreating back. Eliza paused, nodding slightly in acknowledgement.

"No, thank you, Professor."


	12. Library at Hogwarts

A/N: Ok, so it has been over a year since I last posted - sorry about that. Life has been crazy with work, other projects, etc... Anyway, I am back and I hope stay here. I am thinking of having some chapters coming up from Snape's point of view, so any opinions would be great. Enjoy and review :)

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><p>Four days passed since Eliza's meeting with Dumbledore and she was completely lost. On that Sunday, after returning home from Hogwarts, Eliza put the old book that the headmaster had returned to her on a shelf to be forgotten and promptly began digging into her notes. Every day, after school, she would pour over the writing, mentally cataloging the failures and how they were made. But Four days later, she had finished reading the notes and realized that she had no idea where to start.<p>

Since it had been fourteen years since Eliza lived and worked in the wizarding word, she had not learned about any new and modern potion developments. It had been years since she last picked up a copy of _Journal of Applied Healing Sciences_ so her knowledge and potion theory was seriously outdated. Furthermore, her attempts to work with complex potions ingredients and spells were a bit rusty from non-use. All in all, Eliza needed help and there was one place to get it.

That Friday at school, Eliza was distracted and antsy. Her mind was on the task for that evening. As the day finally came to a close, she all but flew out of the classroom, ready to get started on her research. She darted home to change into her robes and quickly apparated out. Landing just outside the gates of Hogwarts, she ran up the path to the castle, waving briefly at Hagrid who was out in his garden. He stared after her for a moment, completely bewildered. By the time she reached the large wooden doors, she was panting heavily. A few students cast her strange looks as they passed by her trying to catch her breath.

Eliza followed the students inside and paused just inside the entrance. Was she supposed to ask Dumbledore first or should she just make her way to the library?

"Why Mrs. Slope, I was not aware that you would be joining us this evening," called a clipped high voice from across the hall. Nails on the chalkboard and screeching brakes were the first things that popped in to Eliza's mind as she turned slowly to greet the speaker with a clenched smile. Dolores Umbridge stood across the entrance hall, clad in her usual bright pink robes and bow on top. Eliza remained stock still with her frozen smile plastered across her face as the frog like woman walked over to her.

"Well Mrs. Slope, were you _invited_ to join us?" Eliza didn't miss the warning that edged Umbridge's sugary sweet voice. Opening her mouth to return and equally biting response, Eliza was surprised when cool baritone voice cut her off. "Mrs. Slope is here on my invitation."

Dolores Umbridge's bullfrog mouth sagged open in surprise as Snape stepped into view of both of the witches. The tension between the three crackled in the air. Umbridge's eyes flitted quickly from Eliza to Snape and back again, carefully calculating her next move. Seeing that there was no way to argue the potion master's claim, Umbridge gave Eliza a jerky nod and stomped off towards the Headmaster's office. No doubt Dumbledore would be getting a full report of the intruder and Professor Snape's "invitation". Eliza watched after the woman for a moment with her best Black family scowl, and then swiftly turned towards the library.

"Will you be coming to dinner?" Snape called after her, his voice unusually polite and sneer-free. Eliza paused and glanced over her shoulder, puzzled by his rare kindness. First he saved her from the awful Umbridge, and then he invited her to dinner. Severus Snape was up to something and she didn't trust him a bit.

"I will take dinner in the library," she answered, careful to keep her face and voice void of any emotion. As she clicked away, Eliza felt the familiar black eyes on her back just it was in her garden day after day.

A few hours later Eliza's half eaten supper (graciously brought to her by Dobby) lay forgotten beside a growing stack of discarded books. After thoroughly scouring each possible book for the information she needed, Eliza tossed the useless tomes in the stack. At the moment she was 0 for 26. Tossing aside the last book that she pulled from the shelf, Eliza leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table and to rub her temples in a vain attempt to diminish her mounting headache. It wasn't as though she was completely lost – she was trying a very different approach than her previous research – but she just didn't know where to find the kind of information she needed. The direction that Eliza was heading this time around was very progressive, bordering on theoretical, and Hogwarts' library tended to house books on ancient and classical forms of magic.

Frustrated, Eliza decided to ask Madam Pince where she might find the books on the magical treatment of neurological disorders. Although the librarian tried her best to help Eliza by suggesting that she try St. Mungo's medical library, she was not able to direct the witch to any books in the library, including the restricted section. Slouching her shoulders in defeat, Eliza thanked Madam Pince and collected her belongings. This was going to be more difficult than planned and she was going to have to resort to conferring with her disagreeable neighbor in order to get the information she needed.

The hour was late, long past curfew, as Eliza walked slowly down the dark corridors. Her mind was swirling with thoughts of how she was going to access the St. Mungo's medical library. She couldn't return there unnoticed, and the library was not open to the general public so she couldn't send anyone in for her. She also had a feeling that the ministry was keeping a close eye on ins and outs of St. Mungos. If Eliza, who had disappeared off the face of the map 14 years previously, suddenly showed up to resume her highly controversial research, the Minister of Magic would probably haul her in for questioning himself. It was definitely best to keep a low profile.

Deep in her thoughts, Eliza was not watching where she was going and managed to run face first into a very tall figure. Papers fluttered through the air as she threw her arms back to try and break the fall. Acting fast, the person she ran into quickly grabbed her about the waist and kept her from hitting the stone floor.

"Perhaps it you should be researching how to create a vision potion since you clearly cannot watch where you are going," drawled a familiar voice. Eliza felt her face flush crimson, firstly because she had managed to physically run into the incorrigible Severus Snape, but secondly because he still had his arms around her even though she was steady on her feet.

"Well maybe you not roam the DARK halls dressed only in black," she sputtered.

Snape smirked and swept his eyes over her equally black robes. "Strange, I was able to spot you despite the color of your robes."

Eliza rolled her eyes and pushed the professor away from her. Crouching down she began to frantically pick up her papers. Half a second later, Snape was also on the floor gathering notes.

"I take it you were not able to find what you were looking for," he questioned in a low voice. Glancing up, Eliza was taken aback by the sincerity in his eyes.

Shaking her head, Eliza sat back on her heels to face the professor. "Hogwarts' library has a great deal of classical and ancient magic resources, but there is a severe lack of modern research in there."

Nodding in agreement, Snape handed Eliza the last of the papers and stood. "I might have something that could help you, but I need to know what you are looking for." Eliza started to open her mouth in protest, but Snape raised his hand to cut her off. "I don't want to know now - the castle has far too many ears for any discussion you are willing to have. When you are ready for my help contact me and I will come to you."

Eliza didn't know what to say. She just wasn't prepared to accept his help, much less his status as a "good" death eater. Giving him a short nod, she started to walk past him.

"Mrs. Slope," Snape called after her," Don't do this alone. You need help and there are many of us willing and able to help. Don't allow your foolish pride to get in the way when so much is at stake."

Eliza paused and glanced over her shoulder at Snape. The professor was startled to see and expression of sadness rather than usual defiance on her face. "For the love of Merlin, start heeding your own advice, Severus," she whispered before scurrying away.


	13. Late Night Philosophy

A/N: Here is my first attempt at Snape's POV. Let me know what you think :)

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><p>There were many things that Severus Snape was sure of in this world. He was sure that the quality of a mind was not determined by one's blood status or circumstance of birth. He was sure that although the fool prevailed in popularity, sheer knowledge and strength of character is what it took to survive the Dark Lord. He was sure that blind loyalty was fatal in all circumstances. And he was sure that no woman could surpass the gloriousness of Lily Evans.<p>

But as the potions master sat in his dungeon study, chewing over his recent conversation with Tonks (a bloody fool as any), he realized for the first time in his life he was not sure on how he felt about Eliza Slope and what she was doing at Hogwarts. Although he never bothered to learn her family background, he had a strong suspicion that she was a pure-blood. Through Tonks he learned that she was a former Slytherin (giving Eliza another point in his mind), so it was unlikely that she did not come from a magical family. Based upon their previous conversations and her employment as a healer, a teacher, and now a scientist, Snape deduced that she was not a fool. Eliza Slope was a very intelligent woman and her shrewdness would get her much further in this war than wanton bravery.

Another tidbit of information that he was able needle out of Tonks following the last Order meeting was that Eliza had refused to join the Order, not once but twice. Being an Order member himself, Snape could easily see why she wanted no part of it. While others berated the woman for being selfish, Snape was silently applauding her for standing up for herself. It wasn't as though she was not contributing to the cause – arguably she was doing more because she was using her talents to make a difference rather than preparing herself for awkward combat. Operating as a lone wolf, so to speak, was commendable in Snape's opinion and it garnered his respect for her.

Considering the number of qualities that Eliza possessed making her a valuable human being in Snape's eyes, there was something about her that rubbed him the wrong way. She was stubborn, rude, defiant, and prideful. She spied on him through his own windows and meddled in his affairs – granted she was saving his life, but that was beside the point. She refused the help that he was offering, which was something rare in itself. All in all, Snape's deep respect for the woman prevented him from speaking to her as though she was one of the usual idiots he dealt with on a daily basis, but he did not like her one bit.

But that evening, as he sat at his desk pouring over the last encounter that happened over a week ago, the fire burning low from neglect and stacks of ungraded essays sitting forgotten on his desk, Snape felt sick when another revelation about Eliza Slope surfaced. It wasn't directly about Eliza, but rather it was about Lily and how he had not thought of her in nearly a week. How his dreams were about nonsensical rubbish, but sadly free of the red-haired witch. How he couldn't forget the shiver he felt every time he touched Eliza. But most of all, the thing that troubled him the most was that when he tried to conjure Lily's image, his mind replaced her emerald eyes with Eliza's alluring pale green eyes

Scowling at another failed attempt at remembering Lily with perfect clarity, Snape stood from his desk, hissing as his joints cracked and soreness crept through his muscles. Lately the potions master had been spending quite a bit of time thinking about his age and how it was advancing much faster than he would have preferred. Of course he was aware that people aged and that he was no exception, but ever since he began feeling so _weary _it occurred to him that he had missed out on a lot of life opportunities. Although it would shock most who knew the cranky professor, he actually craved those normal life events. He wanted a wife and a house with a fence. Believe it or not, he wanted a child. Those dreams disappeared the night Lily died, but for some disturbing reason those dreams were surfacing once again.

Glancing at the clock on the mantle, Snape decided roaming the halls would be a good way to vent some of his frustration. Although most of his nighty rounds were spent protecting the students from Dolores Umbridge, Snape still had the satisfaction of dishing out detention and taking house points. Sweeping out the door, Snape plodded along the corridors to the astronomy tower – a popular spot for hormonal 6th and 7th years. With practiced stealth, the professor was able apprehend three couples and one very confused third year out of bed. He was on a roll and could feel his tension leaving with each ominous threat and removal of house points. He was downright giddy when he heard Umbridge's grating snore as he passed by her office door. The night was looking up.

Slipping into the Great Hall, Snape decided to take a moment to gaze upon the starry sky and marvel at the sheer skill that went into creating that marvelous feeling. Whenever the professor found himself feeling overconfident in his own abilities (which was extremely rare), he turned to the Great Hall ceiling to be humbled by the magic he could never achieve.

As he walked slowly into the Great Hall, eyes facing upwards, he was quite surprised to hear a quiet "Good evening, Severus."

Across the hall stood Albus Dumbledore, dressed in his silver robes and matching nightcap. The Headmaster did not remove his eyes from the ceiling, but continued to study Aquarius as the constellation twinkled above him.

"Found a new hobby, Professor?" sneered Snape. There was no reason for him to be so rude to the Headmaster, but he was annoyed that his improved evening would be tarnished by Dumbledore's meddling conversation.

Dumbledore smiled, knowing right away why Snape was peeved, but chose not to reveal that knowledge. "Why is it Severus that we continually traverse to Great Hall seeking the stars when there are more exits from this castle than one could count?"

Snape raised a quizzical eyebrow. "The Great Hall is conveniently located and is much warmer than the great outdoors," he answered. He knew that this was not the direction that Dumbledore was heading, but the old man's philosophy was more than Snape's temperament could stand on most occasions.

Dumbledore stroked his beard and appeared to ponder Snape's response. "Perhaps you are right about the convenience, but I do not believe that it is the weather we choose to hide from. " Not receiving a retort from the potions master, Dumbledore decided to continue with his thoughts. "As wizards it is easy for us to become enamored with the wonder of magic. We continually seek to gain power and find comfort in our skills. Sometimes we need to look outside of our comfort and find solace in the wonder of nature and in the people around us."

With that said, the Headmaster bid Snape goodnight and left him alone in the Great Hall to wonder what had just transpired. Shaking his head, Snape flapped out of the Great Hall and made his way back to his quarters. It was getting late and he knew that the next day would be much more eventful than preferred with a trip to Hogsmeade followed by an Order meeting that evening. With any luck, thought Snape as he swiftly disrobed for bed, between the headache of sugar laden buffoons returning from Hogsmeade and the onslaught of insults that poured out of Sirius Black's mouth every time they met, Eliza slope would probably take it upon herself to come asking for help and to "pick his brain.'' All he could think, as he settled into his lonely bed, is that her request had better be worth his time.


	14. The Order of the Phoenix

Professor Snape's head was pounding all through dinner. The week had been long enough with the newest educational decree banning all clubs and student organizations, and with Umbridge's insufferable _hem hem _lingering in his classroom as she inspected his teaching. The witch was driving Snape up the wall with her interference, and each interaction ended with dose of headache potion. To close a long week was a lovely Hogsmeade trip. The potions master wanted nothing more than to retreat to his dungeon and sit back in his leather chair with book and a glass of whiskey. Unfortunately, the Order of the Phoenix laid claim to his evening.

Following dinner, Snape exited through castle's the large front doors. Quickly he strode down the path to the massive gates. Once outside of Hogwarts he apparated to London, landing just outside of Number 12 Grimmuald Place. He was lucky enough to miss one of Molly's dinners, but that also meant he was the last one there. Snape knew that he was not welcome amongst the other Order members, not that it bothered him, but he hated the way the group's cheerful camaraderie dropped from the air the moment he stepped through the door. Instead the meetings turned into duel of wits between Sirius and Snape, and the rest of the group sat silently by in a depressed fog. Definitely not the way Snape wanted to spend his Saturday night.

Taking a deep breath, Snape stepped through the front door, careful not to disturb the damnable portrait of Mrs. Black. Typically his entrance triggered some sort of warning and the crowd in the dining room would be scowling before he even reached the room. But this meeting had another addition, a distraction from the dungeon bat.

Despite the room being a flurry of activity and laughter, the first thing that Snape's eyes were drawn to was Eliza standing to the side trying desperately to blend in with the wall. It seemed almost ironic to Snape that she was so reserved when her sheer presence held such command in the room. Despite her petite stature, Eliza seemed to tower above the crowd. She stood arrow straight and held her head high. The witch's clothes also set her a notch above the others. Like Snape, she preferred dark robes that were tailored and covered her from neck to ankle. At this meeting she was clad in well-fitting robes of deep purple with a black strip running along her wrists and the edge of the high collar. Black dragon hide boots, embossed with a scrolling design, covered her legs beneath the skirt. Her hair was drawn back in a tight braid. Instead of jewelry, Eliza wore a large silver pocket watch dangling from the high waist of her skirt. The look was severe, but is gave her gravity that her shyness lacked.

"So _Snivellus_, did you come to this meeting to leer at Eliza or do you have something useful to contribute?" It was clear that Sirius had begun drinking long before the others arrived.

Snape's lip curled. "If 'useful contributions' are compulsory, why are you here, _dog_?" He desperately wanted to hazard a glance at Eliza to see her reaction to his quick retort, but he kept his eyes fast on Black.

Sirius jumped up from his seat, knocking his chair to the ground as he stood unsteadily, ready to fight Snape with wands or fists. The potions master rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first time that Sirius had foolishly threatened him, and frankly, his outbursts were weak. Raising his own wand, just in case, Snape open his mouth to send another mocking insult his way.

Suddenly a spoon flew across the room and popped Sirius on the side of the head. "Oi, Sirius! Put a sock in it and sit down!"

Both men turned incredulously to the source of the spoon and were quite surprised to find Eliza standing with her arms crossed tapping her foot impatiently. "I have potions that need my attention so don't waste my time," she snapped, waving her silver pocket watch.

From there the meeting moved forward without a hitch. Arthur and Kingsley discussed guarding the prophecy, earning an eye roll from Snape (they were out of their minds to believe that a single wizard could keep the Dark Lord at bay). Lupin told them about his failed attempts to talk the werewolves into turning their backs on Voldemort. There was even mention of Hagrid and his journey to visit the giants. Snape's scowl deepened as he thought of how foolish all these men were. If any of them had even spent a moment with the Dark Lord, they would understand his power, his magnetism. Instead, the Order was made up of dreamers and fools with Snape serving as their only connection with reality. Of course he was not much better. In reality, the nagging voice in the back of his mind reminded him, there was no logical way that they could defeat Voldemort, but he dared to dream that they just might succeed.

Bored with the prattle of the meeting, Snape allowed his gaze to wander over to where Eliza stood half in the shadows. She remained silent through the meeting, and as he looked at her, he wondered if she was even listening to what was being said. Eliza seemed to be in her own world holding her wand in front of her face. A bluish light was streaming from her wand to her head (or was it the other way around?), and in it seemed to be little bits of opaque light shifting and rearranging. Snape had never seen such a spell and was absolutely mesmerized as he watched the little shapes move around in the light surrounding her head. Even more fascinating, he thought as he watched, was that no one else seemed to notice. Narrowing his eyes, he studied the light for any clue of what it could be.

Suddenly, as if she knew she was being watched, Eliza switched off the light and fixed a hard stare back on Snape. Flustered, he was unable to stifle the small gasp that escaped his lips. The entire room fell silent and every member of the Order turned to look at him. Snape felt the panic rise in him as he glanced at the eyes now staring at him, and back to Eliza's insufferable smirk.

"Was there something you wanted to say, Severus?" asked Molly kindly. Past her, Snape could see Sirius was having a difficult time remaining composed. Just seeing that scum find pleasure at his discomfort was more than the professor could stand.

"I was just wondering if we were going to continue with this prattle all night. Unlike some people here-" he gave Sirius a pointed look "I have work to do. If there is nothing more that is relevant to discuss, I will take my leave."

"Not so fast, Snivellus. We do have another matter to discuss. Like how you will be helping Eliza," answered Sirius.

Snape sat back in his chair in defeat. He had a feeling that this is why the Headmaster ordered him to attend this meeting. The other Order members turned to face Eliza, who looked as though she had just swallowed a snitch. With all faces turned expectantly towards her, she slowly stepped forward into the light.

"What exactly do you need help doing," asked Arthur. The others nodded in agreement with his question. Eliza's most recent bout of research was a bit of a mystery to several of the Order members.

"Well I need to get into St. Mungo's for two different things," Eliza began hesitantly. "I need to find some research materials from their medical library, and I need to collect all of my previous research and experiment records from the archives."

"I thought we brought your research notes to you," questioned Sirius.

Eliza shook her head. "You brought me my personal notes. I need my documented research so I can review what went wrong in the experiments and move forward."

Snape was growing more and more agitated. As far as he could tell, he was the only one in the room that didn't know what in the world Eliza had been working on before. "I may be of more use to you if I knew what exactly it is that you are attempting to do," Snape said icily. When Eliza didn't answer right away, he narrowed his black eyes at her, silently demanding an answer. With her lips pursed, Eliza flickered her gaze to Sirius who responded with a brief nod.

Fixing her own cold glare on Snape, Eliza finally conceded and revealed the nature of her work. "I am working on a potion that will prevent the drinker from being killed by the Avada Kedavra spell. I was working on it fourteen years ago when Voldemort found out about it. After incessant harassment to join the Death Eaters, they decided to try another solution." Snape audibly gulped when he realized just what that other solution was. Eliza wouldn't join the Death Eaters, so they brutally murdered her family. It was a popular retribution amongst the Death Eaters and it made Snape absolutely sick.

"Needless to say," continued Eliza," With the Ministry being as shaky as it is right now, they would be highly suspicious if I showed up and began that research again. Especially if they are denying Voldemort's return."

The Order members sat silently, each brainstorming their own solution to the problem. After a few minutes, the silence was broken by Tonks. "Can one of us just go to the medical library for you?" Snape shook his head silently. They had so much to learn.

"Only St. Mungo's employees can go into the medical library. And with the ministry being on high alert, they will be watching for break-ins," answered Eliza gently.

Tonks' face broke into a wide grin. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a worn wallet and began flipping through it. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled out a card and slapped it on the table. Snape leaned forward slightly and saw that it was an ID card for St. Mungo's.

"I've used this disguise a few times, never at St. Mungo's, but I am convincing enough. She's a healer in the long-term ward, so the ministry doesn't spend much time worrying about that." To prove her point, she morphed her face and hair to fit the image on the ID. In a matter of seconds, Tonks was a middle aged witch with frizzy blond hair and a bulbous nose. Although he would never say so, Snape was actually rather impressed with the young auror. The solution would work perfectly, and with the library's incredible magical database, any idiot would be able to find the necessary books.

The rest of the Order members also seemed to approve of this idea and Tonks' disguise was met with admiration and excited chatter. Snape watched Eliza as she smiled weakly at the young woman. Her expression was intriguing, making the Potions Master wonder what unspoken sentiment was behind the smile.

"Alright, so we can get the research materials, but how are going to get Eliza's research documents?" asked Moody, breaking through the momentary excitement of Tonks' revelation. Again, the others in the room sat quietly thinking of ways to get into the archives.

Before could stop himself, or even think about what he was about to say, Snape heard his own voice offering up a solution. "I will take Mrs. Slope to St. Mungo's. We will go together under the pretense of resuming research as partners. We can tell the ministry that we are continuing the research, after her long sabbatical for international potions research, for academic purposes and publication. The Dark Lord will no doubt find out that she has resumed her work, so I will be able to feed him false information about the potion."

The Order members stared at him wide-eyed. It was the first time that the Potions Master had ever volunteered for a mission. He usually paraded in and smugly informed them that Dumbledore had assigned him a special, top-secret task. For once, Snape was brainstorming and discussing ideas like a real Order member.

Rolling his eyes, annoyed that others were staring at him like the buffoons that filled his potions classes, Snape turned to Eliza. The woman was also looking at him, but with an expression of admiration and deep thought. Snape could feel himself shrinking back inside, wanting nothing more than to hide in the shadows once more. The only other people who had ever looked at him with that expression, that look of unadulterated admiration and recognition of his intellect and abilities, were Dumbledore and Lily. Thinking of _her_ name made his stomach flip.

"You know, that might just work," Eliza said softly, tapping her chin with her finger while she stared off into space. "They will only release the paperwork to me, and the ministry probably knows that most of you are Order members…I think we can make this happen, Severus." Eliza gave Snape a wide grin. It was a little unnerving to see her smile like that, and Snape was not the only on squirming with discomfort. To make matters worse, he couldn't help the little half smile that crept onto his lips.

"Great, we have that all figured out," said Sirius loudly, reminding Snape to resume his usual sneer. "You two can work out the details. I think it is time for another round of firewhiskey."

Slowly, the Order members began filtering out. Not wanting to be the last one in the room with Lupin and Sirius, Snape slipped out of the dining room door. As he walked down the hallway, Snape saw Eliza standing in the drawing room. Immediately, he was taken aback by the massive tapestry hanging on the wall depicting the Black family tree. Even though he had been to Grimmauld place more times than he cared to remember, Snape had never seen any of the rooms besides the hall and the dining room. Eliza stood across the room with her back to the door. She was staring a burn mark that was connected to Narcissa Malfoy's name. Beside Narcissa was another burn mark, and beyond that was the scowling face of Bellatrix Lestrange. Snape was sure that the burn mark between the sisters used to be the face of Andromeda Tonks. Apparently her muggle husband was not well received in the Black family. But Snape was confused to see another mark beside the girls. As far as he knew, there were just three sisters in that family and no brothers.

As Snape stood staring at the mystery burn mark, Eliza turned around, surprised to his black eyes studying the wall behind her. Quickly, Eliza strode forward and stood directly in his line of vision.

"I will send you and owl when we are ready to visit St. Mungo's. I am thinking that it would be best to wait until next weekend," she said in a dismissive tone. Snape couldn't miss the get-out-of-here message in her voice. Nodding curtly, Snape flapped down the hallway and out of Grimmuald Place. Once he was in the alleyway, he turned on the spot and apparated back to Hogwarts' front gates.

As he made his way to the dungeons, he managed to dish out detention to a couple of students and successfully avoided Dolores Umbridge. Collapsing in his favorite chair, Snape summoned a glass of firewhiskey and stared into the fire. Between keeping Umbridge at arm's length and doing duties for both the Order and the Dark Lord, Snape could not understand why he volunteered to do yet another job. To make matters worse, the professor had a feeling that Dumbledore had arranged this partnership for reasons other than defeating the Dark Lord.


	15. Mission with Snape

A/N: The chapters are getting longer (finally!), so enjoy! Feel free to send lots of reviews :)

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><p>Eliza was finding it increasingly difficult to live her double life. Muggle school teacher by day, expert potions maker hell-bent on stopping a dark wizard from destroying more lives by night. It was easy to see which life was taking over. During independent reading time, she would pour over potions books that she had charmed to look like text books. When the children were at recess, she scribbled down notes and ideas on any bit of paper she could find. Her students' knew that something was going on with Mrs. Slope, but they had no idea what it could be.<p>

Even more distracting was the letter that she received from Melanie. To any other person, the letter would seem perfectly normal. Melanie wrote about her studies, her first flying lesson, the newest wonders of the castle, and the first house quidditch game that was coming up. What bothered Eliza were the things left unsaid in the letter. Unlike before, Melanie made no mention of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She made no complaints about her teachers, and absolutely no mention of Umbridge. She didn't mention any of Educational Decrees even though Eliza was sure that they annoyed her as much as they annoyed the other students. Eliza read the whole letter with mounting suspicion, finally deciding that something was wrong when Melanie practically begged for her to visit. Eliza knew that she would have to talk to Snape about her concerns when he saw him next.

Despite her distracted teaching and the unnerving letter from Melanie, Eliza's week flew by quickly. When the day of the St. Mungo's visit finally arrived, Eliza could feel the panic setting in. Tonk's visit the medical library on that Friday went without a hitch. She was thoroughly convincing as a healer, and was able to procure a large stack of journals, books, and papers on nerve damage, cerebral protection, and treatment of various brain injuries. With half of the mission completed, Snape and Eliza were to make their trip on Saturday.

Eliza spent that Friday night tossing and turning. When her worried mind should have been thinking about how to get in and out of St. Mungo's without causing alarm, she was really thinking about just how far Snape could actually be trusted. Eliza went through the list in her head: He was an Order member, Dumbledore trusted him, he seemed genuinely interested in helping… On the other hand: she had seen his Dark Mark, his mind was unreadable, Dumbledore trusted him… The pros and cons were even. Annoyed that she still had no answers, Eliza got up to get a drink. Peering out her window into the dark windows of Snape's house, she thought back on her conversation with Sirius. What did she have to lose is what she told him. What did it matter if he was still a Death Eater. If she could successfully create the potion, even if it meant using his assistance, then it would be worth it in the end. Feeling much better, Eliza was able to get a few hours sleep before dawn.

The pair agreed to meet just inside the main entrance of St. Mungo's at 9 a.m. sharp. With both of them dressed in their usual black robes, Eliza and Snape looked like they were going to a funeral. Greeting each other with a curt nod, they walked stiffly, side-by-side toward the front desk. Bypassing the line formed in front of the uninterested receptionist, Eliza led the way to the basement where the research facilities were located. She hoped that the staff would all be new, that there wouldn't be anybody there who would recognize her, but she knew that could not happen. No doubt, all of the employees from her day would be there and want to know what happened so many years ago.

The receptionist sitting just inside the research department entrance seemed to be along the same vein as the woman sitting at front entrance: thoroughly uninterested in their arrival.

"What can I do for you today? She asked boredly. On her desk was a copy of the Quibbler, earning a shared look of contempt from Eliza and Snape.

Eliza's mouth went dry when she realized she had no idea how to ask for the information without being suspicious. Snape sighed loudly, making Eliza give him a nasty glare, and told the receptionist what they needed. "We have come to withdraw the records of Mrs. Eliza Slope from the archives."

"Down the hall, third door on the left." The receptionist pointed down the hall without looking up. "Merle is in there to help you out."

Eliza and Snape thanked the woman and took off down the hallway.

"Painless so far," muttered Snape as they walked.

"You haven't met Merle," Eliza answered. Snape looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Here we are," she said, leading Snape through the third door.

Inside were rows and rows of dark shelves, a very narrow walk space between each of them. Parchment was packed so tightly onto the shelves that it stuck out in all directions. Dust particles could be seen dancing in the few feeble rays of light that managed to squeeze through the dense paperwork. Just inside the door was a large front desk that was covered in stacks of papers. Above their heads flew countless purple memos, just like the ones the ministry used.

Snape's lip curled as he surveyed the scene. It was incredible how disorganized the archives were. "This is the archives?" he asked indignantly as a memo collided with his head.

Eliza shuffled through the papers on the desk and found an old brass bell, which she dinged loudly. A moment later, a very small and very old wizard made his way through the shelves. Unique was always the only word Eliza could think of to describe Merle. He was dressed in shimmering fuchsia robes with orange owls stitched into the fabric. His mop of curly hair had a vaguely blueish hue, and his cheeks and button nose were flushed as though they had been rouged.

Coming into the light, Merle put on a pair of blue framed glasses that magnified his eyes and made him look like a bug. It took less than a second for the old man to let out a piercing squeal. "Eliza Slope! Is that really you?! They said you would never come back, but I knew you would. I always said you would."

Eliza blushed at his excitement. She hadn't realized how much they would miss her at St. Mungo's. As far as she was concerned, she was a nobody.

"So are you picking up in Potion Development again, or trying something new," He questioned.

Eliza shook her head no. "I'm not coming back, Merle. I am just here to pick up my files."

Merle's face fell in disappointment, until his eyes lit upon Snape. Immediately, the old man brightened. "And who might this young man be? Oh my, he is quite the looker."

Eliza suppressed a giggle. Beside her, she could feel Snape shift uncomfortably. No doubt, he was giving Merle a rather nasty scowl. "This is my research partner, Severus Snape," She answered.

"Now when you say partner, do you mean partner or 'partner'?" Merle wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making Eliza turn her escaping laughter into a poorly disguised cough. She could feel Snape shaking in anger. Glancing up, she saw that an odd purple color was crawling across his jaw and up his cheeks. He's blushing, she thought.

"You have been reading too many wizard romances," she said in her most disapproving voice. "Severus is simply my research partner."

Merle sighed and leaned against the desk. "Whatever. All I can say is that you have a type and he is it."

Eliza rolled her eyes. "Can I just have my files please?"

Merle cast them both a weary glance and leaned in closer. "It's not that easy, Eliza. The Minister is keeping a close watch on us here. If I give you the files, I then have to send a report to him. With your work he will want a full scale inquiry." The wizard's voice was just above a whisper and he kept casting furtive glances around them.

Eliza frowned. Something was going on. "Are you being watched, Merle?" she asked quietly.

"Don't know," he answered with a small shrug. "Probably, but I can't figure out how."

This wasn't going to be as easy as she hoped. Looking up at Snape, Eliza opened her mind, just slightly, and thought _we have to stun him and take the files_. With an almost unperceivable nod, Snape quietly raised his wand.

"I'm so sorry, Merle," Eliza said quietly as red light shot out of Snape's wand, stunning Merle where he stood. Getting out her own wand, Eliza quickly summoned her files and slipped them into her charmed purse.

Quickly, Eliza and Snape slipped out of the room and past the receptionist who ignored them on their way out. The pair rushed through St. Mungo's, towards the front door, keeping their faces impassive. Both of them were expert "poker face" makers, but neither of them wanted to be in the building when it was discovered that Merle had been attacked. They had nearly reached the exit when a familiar voice called out to them.

"Why Severus, what on Earth are you doing here, so far from Hogwarts?" called Lucius Malfoy. Both Eliza and Snape stiffened and turned slowly. "And you are here with Eliza Slope. I expected better of you." Lucius looked down his nose at Eliza with an expression of something that smelled bad. Eliza returned his look with her coldest Black family glare, something that Lucius was on the receiving end of frequently.

"I can ask the same of you, Lucius. How is it that you are so far from the minister," sneered Snape. There was a definite challenge in his words.

Lucius gave a false laugh. "I am here to see Alfred Pickles, you know, the director of St. Mungo's. They have decided to name the new wing after me."

Eliza scowled at him. "Just what you need, Lucius. Isn't your head inflated enough already?" she snapped. Snape's lips thinned as he subtly nudged Eliza. She knew he wanted her to shut up, but she didn't care.

"Good to see that you have returned to us, Eliza. Narcissa will be so pleased. You must come for dinner sometime," said Lucius. There was nothing authentic about his invitation.

Eliza opened her mouth angrily to retort, but she was cut off by Snape. "Come Eliza, we have work to do," he murmured in her ear. Eliza felt shivers run down her spine. Giving Lucius a scathing look, she turned and followed Snape out of the building.

Without speaking, the pair made their way to the Leaky Cauldron. It seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the pair of them to grab dinner and a drink. Settling in a distant corner, they gave their order to the waitress.

"You really should be more careful with Lucius Malfoy," said Snape quietly, breaking the silence.

"I can handle Lucius," scoffed Eliza. As far as she was concerned, her brother-in-law was nothing but a puffed up peacock.

"I mean it, Eliza," growled Snape, giving her shivers once more. "You have been living as a muggle for a long time. Malfoy is a powerful man. He has Fudge wrapped around his little finger and he is well liked by the Dark Lord."

"Lucius Malfoy is the least of my concerns right now. I find it hard to believe that he would waste much time on recounting our little visit today. I am not a threat to his position, so I am not worried about our little encounter."

Snape sighed irritably, raking his hand through his black hair. Eliza felt an involuntary pull in the pit of her stomach, not unlike the sensation of a portkey. She loved his long hair, no matter how greasy it seemed.

"Are you going to tell me the direction of research?" he asked, fixing his black eyes on her.

Just then, the waitress brought their food and drinks. The conversation was momentarily forgotten as they dug into their respective meals. After a few moments of chewing, Snape decided to attempt to pick up where they left off.

"Well? What are your ideas?"

Eliza took a long sip of her firewhisky and pushed her plate aside. "How do you believe that Avada Kedava actually kills a person?"

"It stops the heart of course, instant death," Snape answered, unsure of why she was asking such an obvious question.

"Ah, but that is not quite true," she said, grinning inwardly that she knew something that the great Severus Snape did not know. "For centuries, that is what people have thought that was the cause. And for centuries people have tried desperately to protect the heart from the spell. But they had the wrong part.

Snape seemed to ponder this for a moment. "If it doesn't attack the heart, what does it do?" He had dropped his usual cool, condescending tone in favor of pure curiosity.

"It's the nervous system that is key." Eliza explained. "The spell sort of works as a shock to the nervous system, traveling to the brain and shutting it down instantly. It causes a massive, fast-acting seizure. See, it doesn't matter where you are hit with the spell, it can travel to your brain through any of your nerves."

Snape steepled his hands in front of him, apparently deep in thought. Eliza couldn't help thinking that he was getting more and more like Dumbledore.

"So how exactly are you attempting to address this 'shock'?"

"Well, last time I worked on the potion, my focus was on impact. I thought if I could prevent the shock from traveling through the nervous system, it wouldn't hurt you. Unfortunately, the furthest I got was a loss of feeling and no protection. This time around, I was thinking that I could work on protecting the brain itself. The spell will still travel through the body, but it would not be able to penetrate the brain."

Snape nodded as he thought about her explanation. "That would be a logical direction to head. Do you have any ideas for potion ingredients?"

Eliza shook her head. "I haven't identified specific ingredients yet, but I had Tonks get me some information on treating seizures and sensory disorders. I am also exploring occlumency and how it would affect the potion."

Snape shot a sly look at Eliza. "Yes, well you would be the occlumency expert. What was that little trick you did earlier?"

"That wasn't a trick," snorted Eliza. "You constantly try to read my mind, I just let you in long enough to get my message."

The odd purple color began creeping up Snape's cheeks again. "I don't 'constantly try to read your mind'," he muttered, not meeting her eyes.

Eliza laughed. "It's okay, Severus, you aren't the only one desperate to see what's going on in here." Standing up, she reached for her purse to dig out some money. "I need to get home and look over my files. See you around, Severus," she said, tossing her coins on the table.

As she turned to leave, Snape's hand reached out to grab her wrist. Eliza took a sharp intake of breath as her stomach swooped at the sensation of his touch. Slowly, she turned to look at him.

"If you need me, don't contact me by owl. If you do use an owl, make sure there is no information that could give away the nature of your work. We are being monitored at Hogwarts. Even the Floo Network is not safe." Snape told her all of this in a hushed, furtive tone, his eyes burning into hers. Taken aback by his intensity, Eliza nodded and quickly left without saying goodbye.

On the street, Eliza thought about what he had just told her. That would explain Melanie's strange letter. It angered her that the ministry had turned on its own citizens rather than face the truth and protect them. She had half a mind to go directly to Fudge himself and hex some sense into him.

But despite all of the anger and frustration coursing through her as she headed home, Eliza couldn't help but to notice that her wrist still tingled, just in that spot, where Snape had touched her. Her head was screaming at her for being a fool, but even Eliza couldn't deny the pull that Severus Snape had on her.


	16. Trust

A/N: Extra long chapter this time. I used a slightly modified Downton Abbey quote in this chapter - bonus points to whoever finds it ;) Thank you for all of the adds and favs! I really appreciate it. And keep the reviews coming, I really want to know what you all think :)

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><p>Eliza waited patiently for Number 12 Grimmuald place to appear. There was no meeting planned for that evening, but she was sure that Sirius wouldn't mind her dropping by unannounced. When the house finally came into view, Eliza quickly crossed the street and stepped through the door without catching the attention of any muggles nearby. Knowing her cousin's favorite room in the house, she made her way down to the kitchen.<p>

"Bloody hell!" shouted Sirius as she banged the kitchen door open. Eliza smirked at the newly formed tea stain on the front of his shirt. "Have you ever heard of knocking?"

"What fun is knocking?"

Sirius glared at her, mopping up the mess he had just made. "And to what do I owe this visit," he snapped.

"I had some errands to run in Diagon Alley," she answered, showing him her shopping bag and new owl inside its cage. Two weeks before, Eliza had managed to get ahold of her research notes and materials. It was time for her first trial run, so she had gone to Diagon Alley to stock up on potion supplies. "I also need to talk to Remus and I figured you would know the best way to reach him."

"Uh oh, I guess you can't us an owl as an excuse to show up to Order meetings now," jeered Sirius. Carefully, he lifted the cage onto the table so he could inspect her new pet.

Eliza rolled her eyes. "Here I was thinking that you could use a little company. If you are just going to mock me, then I am going home."

Sirius chuckled and sat back in his favorite chair. Putting his feet his feet on the table (making Eliza cringe), he gestured for her to join him. "You are most welcome to stay, cousin. Remus is not here at the moment, but he will be back soon. Would you like a drink while we wait?" Eliza shook her head no. "Well then, tell me about working with old Snape-" he spit the name out like it tasted bad"-what made you so eager to team up with that git?"

Eliza crossed her arms and scowled at Sirius. He was baiting her already, she knew it, but it still peeved her that he was acting like a school boy again. "Grow up, Sirius. You know why I am working with him."

Sirius cocked his head, surveying Eliza who was desperately avoiding his gaze. "Do I really know why you are doing it? Let's see, you will say that Dumbledore is making you do it. That's it, Dumbledore told you that you had to do it so there is no way that you would refuse." Eliza snorted irritably. "Because you have always done everything that Dumbledore asks of you," he added sarcastically.

"Just drop it," Eliza said through clenched teeth. "I am doing this for me and me only. Snape has the knowledge and connections I need, it is only logical that I would work with him."

Sirius shook his head in disbelief. "You don't trust Snape enough to let him help you. I know you have seen his dark mark. Nothing has changed."

"Dumbledore trusts him, that's enough for me," she said coldly. In that short time he had managed hit a nerve and she was considering leaving without talking to Lupin.

Sirius' barking laugh made Eliza jump and narrow her eyes at him. "Now you are going to tell me that you believe that Dumbledore's judgment is sound. The muggle life has changed you. Or else you are just lying to me and yourself."

Eliza remained silent, her fury clearly etched on her face. She was beyond tired of Sirius thinking he could read her mind. How dare he think that he knew her motives better than she.

"You know what I think," he continued. "I think you are picking up where you left off at Hogwarts." Eliza's eyes flashed with anger and mortification. How did he know about that?

"Oh yes, I knew about your book, your _hobby_." Sirius was leering at her with a look of disgust. "Does Snivellus know about his little stalker?"

Before Eliza could react with the rage building up inside her, Lupin walked into the kitchen. Raising an eyebrow, he gave the fuming cousins a curious glance. "Hello, Eliza. We weren't expecting you," he said politely.

Another moment of silence passed before Sirius stood, muttered something about feeding Buckbeak, and stomped upstairs. Lupin watched him leave with his brow furrowed.

"I came to talk to you, Remus," Eliza said wearily, nodding towards the chair that Sirius had just abandoned. Lupin sat down quickly. "I was thinking the other day about some potions and it occurred to me that you may be having a hard time getting Wolfsbane Potion. Am I right?"

Lupin looked down shamefully. "I haven't been able to get it since I worked at Hogwarts. Severus was kind enough to brew it for me, but he quit the moment I left the school. Nobody else seems to have his skill for it."

Eliza bit her lip sympathetically. She never could understand Snape's contempt for Lupin other than the fact that he was friends with James Potter. True, she was not a friend of his by any means, she actually found him to be as irresponsible as the other marauders, but she respected him. And it was so unfortunate that he was a werewolf, he had such potential.

"How have your transformations been since then? The usual?"

Lupin smiled at the healer tone that Eliza's voice had taken. "Transformations have been as horrible as usual. But it is okay, I have a place to go when they happen, an old house to barricade myself in."

Clicking her tongue in disapproval (sounding more like Molly Weasley than herself), Eliza reached into her pocket and withdrew a flask. "Here is a dose of Wolfsbane for this coming full moon. I will continue to brew it for you. There is no reason that you shouldn't be getting the potion you need."

Lupin stared down at the flask, his eyes wide. "I-I-I can't, Eliza," he said quietly. "I can't waste your time when you have such important work to do."

"Nonsense. This potion practically makes itself, it just takes so many days that people think it is hard to do. Remus, you are too valuable to the Order. We can't have you missing out for days because you are recovering from a transformation. " Eliza said all of this very matter-of-factly without meeting his eyes. Inside she was squirming from the awkwardness. While there was no doubt that she cared about people, acts of kindness just weren't her thing.

"At least let me pay for this," he said weakly, reaching for his pocket.

"Absolutely not." Eliza cut him off firmly. "You can repay me by being at every meeting and answering every question I have about werewolves."

Lupin grinned widely. "I will do just that. Seriously, Eliza, I can't thank you enough."

"No need," Eliza said, standing up and retrieving her bags. As she walked out of the kitchen, Eliza paused and looked back at Lupin. "One more thing. Take good care of my niece. Keep her safe."

A panicked expression quickly crossed Lupin's face. "I don't know…how do…what do you mean?"

Eliza smiled and shook her head. "I have seen the way you two look at each other. I don't know what kind of relationship you have now or intend to have, but I am counting on you to take care of her. She is in the Black family, and I can guarantee that she thinks she is invincible. I believe that you are the right man for the job." With that, Eliza left behind a very shocked Remus Lupin and made her way home.

At home, Eliza set to work unloading her bag of potions ingredients into the pantry. She also took her new owl out of the cage and to the area in the mudroom that she set up for him. The shopkeeper said that he was a Eurasian Eagle Owl and that he had been there for a long time because he was not the cute owls that most people wanted. Eliza immediately took pity on him and decided he was perfect. He was a very large owl with a spotted front and massive black "eyebrows" that gave him the appearance of an old man.

Giggling at the grouchy look that he was giving her, Eliza decided to let him make his first delivery. Getting out a piece of parchment, she scribbled a quick note:

_I need to pick your brain – E.S._

With a grumbly squawk, the large owl flew out of the kitchen window, carrying the message to Hogwarts. With that taken care of, Eliza set to making her first experimental potion. She wasn't planning on making the full potion yet, she just want to test the properties of various ingredients and combinations.

That night there was a knock at her front door. Smiling to herself, she knew that Snape had understood her message. Going to greet him, she noticed right away that the wizard seemed to fill the doorway with his looming height and billowing robes. His expression was stern and probing, making Eliza's heart skip a beat, feeling much like a punch to the chest. She hated to admit it, but he made a rather impressive image. Stepping out of his way, she waved Snape into her house.

"Good evening, Severus. I see you received my message and it wasn't too cryptic for you." Eliza smiled cheekily at him, noting the way his clenched smile twitched at her joking.

"I did receive it, Eliza. I do hope you have something useful to discuss as my time is quite valuable," he said coolly, following her into the kitchen.

Eliza laughed lightly. "Yes, I am sure whatever book you are reading is much more important than saving the wizarding world." His lip curled in annoyance, making Eliza laugh even more. She was beginning to see why people enjoyed poking fun at the irritable professor.

Setting Snape down at the table, Eliza busied herself with making tea. Her new owl sat on the windowsill above the sink, filling the whole space of the open window. He made a disgruntled sound when she stroked his eyebrows, but was more than happy to take the bit of bread she offered him.

"What do you think of my new owl?" asked Eliza.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "The owl seems quite adequate for deliveries," he answered.

Eliza chuckled at his answer and gave the owl another bit of bread. "Oh yes, he is quite adequate. I still haven't named him. He is such a grouch that I was thinking of calling him Severus."

Snape's face turned an odd purple color and his lips were pressed together in a narrow line. "I don't think that would be appropriate," he ground out.

Snickering at his reaction, Eliza brought the tray of tea and biscuits over to the table. "Alright, I will go with a different name. Do you have any ideas? I was thinking about calling him Maximus"

Snape paused, midway through picking up a biscuit. "Any particular reason for that name," he asked softly. The glint in his eye made Eliza think that he probably knew the reference for the name.

"Maximus Cavill was the inventor of the Amortentia Potion. It is my favorite to make." She answered, smiling faintly as she remembered the scents that she usually smelled with it: wood smoke, rosemary, and firewhisky.

"That is an interesting potion, but it useless. I have always preferred making Veritaserum." Snape said, all coolness gone from his voice.

Eliza realized that they were having a real conversation. "That is a good potion too," she said thoughtfully. "Darwin Perryfoot was the creator that one, so I could name my owl after him."

"No," said Snape solemnly. "The other potion suits you better, at least the brewing process does. You should stick with Maximus. Besides, Darwin is the name of my owl."

Eliza grinned wildly, excited that they used the same method to name their pets. Seeing her approval, Snape cleared his throat loudly and quickly looked about the room for a distraction.

"What potion are you working on now?" he asked, his eyes settling on the cauldron that sat on the stove. On the counter beside it sat several tubes of a golden yellow liquid.

"It's not a potion yet," explained Eliza," I am testing the magical properties of different ingredients. The liquid in the tubes is foxglove extract that I made earlier this afternoon. I am now boiling valerian root. And I have several more to go."

Snape nodded as she explained. He often liked to test his potions ingredients before using them to make sure that he always received optimum results with his concoctions. "How long do you think it will take to test all of your ingredients?"

Eliza frowned. "Right now I have a list of over 200 possible ingredients to test, so it could easily take 2-3 months for the initial tests. Once I have narrowed it down a bit, I then have to run another series of tests. And then there are the combination tests…. I definitely have my work cut out for me."

Snape looked down at the table and crunched a biscuit loudly. He seemed to be thinking carefully about what he wanted to say. "It sounds like you need someone to share the responsibilities. I can only offer my services yet again, but you will no doubt refuse. I understand that you do not trust me, you are wise not to trust me, but I am afraid that there is not a better option. The other Order members are abysmal at potions and Dumbledore cannot be bothered with such work."

Snape seemed to be getting increasingly flustered as his speech went on. Eliza wanted so badly to reach across the table and pat his hand in comfort, but she refrained from doing so. It pained her that he could so easily read her, that he knew about her reservations and concerns.

"Severus," Eliza said softly. Snape's eyes met hers. "Do not think that you are the only person that I don't trust. The Order, Dumbledore, my own family…I don't trust any of them. Hell, I don't even trust myself. I know that you are the best person to help me, and I will seek your help when I need it, but this is something that I need to do alone. I really messed things up the first time around and lost everything. If I can save just one family from the fate of mine, my efforts will be worth it."

Snape sighed and looked away. Eliza grimaced, thinking of how those words must ring true with him as well. She knew about his friendship with Lily Evans, and although he would never admit it, she was sure that her death was related to him joining the Order. Just like Eliza, Snape had messed up the first time and needed to finish his mission alone.

"Why did you ask for me if you don't need my help," Snape asked, his normal scowl and cold tone of voice returning.

Eliza looked at him sadly. She hated it that he clammed up and shut her out every time she upset him. "I need your perspective tonight. I have chosen to not join the Order but I am working closely with them. Sirius continues to make me feel guilty about not being in it, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I feel like you are the closest to understanding my reasoning, maybe you can help me see if I am being foolish or not."

Snape pondered her for a moment. Sitting back in his chair, he crossed his arms tightly, defensively, in front of him. "Well that depends upon your reasons for not joining the Order."

Eliza furrowed her brow. "I guess I just hate the superiority of it all. The Order seems to think that they have the have the monopoly on honor. I don't believe that the Dark Lord or Death Eaters are in the right by any means, but I don't like being told that people from my background and from my house at Hogwarts are the equivalent of Death Eaters. And I don't think it is as black and white as Sirius and the others think. When you grow up in a pureblood family you are raised under a certain belief system. It is not excusable, and I did not allow myself to be taken in by those beliefs, but I can see why so many were too weak to resist."

Snape's expression remained neutral while Eliza poured out her frustration with the Order. When he finally responded, his voice was edged in coolness, but lacked the bite it usually carried. "I do not think that you are wrong in your judgment of the Order. The other members do not understand the mindset of the Death Eaters. That is why they have me. But I also think that you should consider another perspective. There is a lot of work, planning, and expertise going into the demise of the Dark Lord. The Order needs every intelligent witch and wizard available to assist. Your intelligence is both necessary and desired by the Order. It is no wonder that they are so persistent."

"Oh Severus," sighed Eliza, rubbing her face in frustration, "You are not making this easier."

Snape smirked slightly at the frazzled witch. "I suggest you hold out a bit longer. The pure annoyance for Black makes it worthwhile."

Eliza laughed. "You are just what I needed tonight," she said, her green eyes locking with Snape's rather wide eyes.

Just then the clock chimed 12 times. Sighing, Snape stood slowly. "It is midnight, I must be getting back to the school."

Eliza wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but it sounded like Snape was disappointed that he had to leave. Getting up, Eliza walked him to the back door, where he would apparate from her back yard. Leaning against the doorframe, Eliza watched as he found a good spot to take off from.

"There is a quidditch match coming up in a couple of weeks, right?" she called to him as he turned to face her.

Surprised, Snape nodded. "Yes, it is between Slytherin and Gryffindor."

"Hmmm, I have missed watching quidditch," Eliza said, more to herself than him. "See you soon, Severus."

With an odd glance toward Eliza, Snape spun and disappeared on the spot.

Eliza stayed at her door, staring out into the night where Snape had been moments before. She couldn't pinpoint her exact reasoning, but something made her want to go to that match, made her want to spend more time with Snape. She knew then that this partnership would extend beyond research and bring up feelings that she had buried back at Hogwarts so many years before.


	17. Quidditch

A/N: I have to do a bit of shameless advertisement (and it doubles as an apology for taking so long to post). If you are an Avengers fan, please check out my other story The Kids Will Be Fine. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please read and review :)

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><p>The morning of the quidditch match finally arrived and Snape was not looking forward to it. He was sure that his team would beat the Gryffindor brats this time, but he did not look forward to sitting through the bitter cold just to see Potter and his teammates finally get a taste of failure. The students had already begun traveling down to the quidditch pitch, but Snape took a moment in courtyard to heat his clothing with a permanent warming charm. The handy charm, which he had learned from Lily their third year, had kept him from freezing his way through numerous quidditch matches over the years.<p>

Professor McGonagall, dressed in her tartan cape and earmuffs, smirked as she approached Snape. "Good luck, Severus," She said," I am sure your team will surpass all of our expectations as they have used the quidditch pitch every day the last two weeks."

Snape scowled. "Yes, Minerva, my team is sure to win with Weasley as your keeper."

Just then, a group of students sporting "Weasley is our King" badges walked by. McGonagall's face turned as scarlet as her Gryffindor scarf. Stiffly bidding Snape goodbye, she stomped off after the students in a huff.

Snickering to himself, Snape resumed working on his clothing. He was so focused on the charm that he didn't notice when a visitor flounced up beside him.

"Hello, Severus," Said Eliza loudly, laughing when he jumped in surprise.

Snape gave her an appraising look. "Need I ask what team you are cheering for?" A slight smile rested on his lips as he looked over her robes.

Eliza was dressed from head to toe in robes of Slytherin green. The bodice and skirt fit tightly to her body and the collar buttoned at the neck. Below her knee-length skirt were black boots, each featuring a snake of silver and emerald thread curling up the sides. Around her shoulders was a long cape, also green, with a silver fox fur along the edge of the hood. She left her white hair down over her shoulders, but clipped the single black streak up with a silver barrette made to look like the Syltherin House crest. In Snape's eyes she looked simply radiant. He felt his heart swell with house pride like never before.

"It's been a while since I got to wear my Slytherin robes, I couldn't resist bring them out again," Eliza said, flashing Snape a grin. Snape felt his stomach flip and it suddenly seemed important for him to make her smile like that every opportunity he got.

Together, they made their way down to the quidditch pitch. The journey was more uncomfortable than it should have been because Eliza had opted to walk with her hand in the crook of his elbow. Snape was horrifyingly aware of her presence beside him the whole time they walked, his breath catching every time her body brushed against his. By the time they reached their seats, Snape's jaw was clenched tightly to keep his surprised gasps at bay.

"Oh yes, you are playing Gryffindor," said Eliza as she peered over the sea of students dressed in red and green. "Hmmm, I am guessing that they are still Slytherin's ultimate rival?"

Snape scowled at the reminder. Year after year his team trained harder and played stronger, and yet that pompous Potter swooped in with a bit of fancy broomwork and stole the Quidditch cup from under his nose. "We will defeat them this year. My players have been practicing every day and the Gryffindors have that abysmal Weasley as Keeper."

Across the pitch he saw a Luna Lovegood with a massive roaring lion on her head. If her creation wasn't such a monstrosity,clearly dreamed up by that nonsensical moony brain of hers, he might have appreciated the complicated charms used to make it. Charms were never his strong suit, but he had a certain weakness when it came to those clever in the subject.

The game began with its usual take off and cheering crowd. Eliza sat on the edge of her seat, clasping her hands in excitement, attempting to follow all of the fliers at once. Snape watched her out of the corner of his eye, a bemused expression on his face. Something about her giddy behavior and her enthusiasm when anyone, even the Gryffindor chasers, had the quaffle made the professor suspect that athleticism was the one subject she did not excel in.

The game was in full swing when he first heard it. It began as a low murmur amongst the Slytherins on the bottom rows, a chant of sorts. It was common for the students to compose little ditties to encourage their house players, so he paid it no mind and continued dividing his attention between the game and Eliza beside him. Each time the witch jumped up to clap enthusiastically for some move or another (usually a minor maneuver or a play by the opposing team), Snape grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into her seat. As revenge, he was sure, she used that opportunity to inch closer to him so that she was soon snuggled tight enough against his side that he had to rest his arm behind her back. This proximity was so distracting that he did not notice Pansy Parkinson standing in front of her classmates, directing them in raucous song, until the words were finally clear to him

Weasley is our King,

Weasley is our King,

He always lets the Quaffle in,

Weasley is our King.

Groaning as the realization struck him, Snape leaned forward and massaged his already aching temples. That morning he had seen the buttons and found them mildly amusing. He knew that Malfoy and his cronies had been teasing the boy all week, but he was not about to stop them. They were childish and annoying, but they were also correct in their intimation – he really was terrible and that gave the Slytherins an edge. But this song was taking it too far, especially with a visiting house alum that Snape so desperately wanted to impress. He was really hoping to show her how much more powerful the Slytherin house was since their days in school, but with them singing that childish song, they looked just like the low-blow brats that had always been.

Glancing wildly down at Eliza pressed against his side, he knew that her frown was from recognition of the song's lyrics.

"That's not a very nice song, is it?" she asked, looking up at him with her wide green eyes.

Snape felt his stomach drop uncomfortably. "No, I am afraid that it isn't," he said quietly. Turning to resume watching the game, he silently willed Eliza to drop the subject.

Her laugh took him by surprise. He looked down at her again, his mouth hanging open as he tried to piece together what had amused her so much.

"Oh I shouldn't be laughing," she said, "Is that really the extent to which they would go? I never understood how the houses could be so competitive. Your students really outdid themselves."

Snape stared at her completely bewildered. How could this witch be so confusing? Ever since they first met he was absolutely baffled by her actions and behaviors. Just when he thought he had her all figured out, she would drop some bombshell that brought him back to square one. He was sure that she hated him, that she had long ago written him off as the despicable death eater that he was. But over the last few weeks, she seemed to open up to him and to perhaps enjoy his company. And now, when he expected the high and mighty Eliza Slope to look down her nose as his house's immature behavior, she laughed and found the entire situation amusing. It was unnerving.

The game continued with the Slytherins taking no mercy as the Gryffindor Chasers scrambled to make up for Weasley's poor performance as a Keeper. Snape was sure that the Hufflepuff Keeper had more skills than that ginger buffoon. Each time the Slytherin Chasers put the quaffle through one of the goal posts, with the chorus of Weasley is our King booming in his ears, Snape's chest swelled with house pride that could not be beat. It was one of those rare moments that the Head of House dared to dream about: their team performing admirably on the pitch, the whole house participating in perfectly planned cheering, and a beautiful woman proudly donning the house colors by his side. Well, the last item was probably not something that McGonagall or Filtch dreamed of, but Snape was a relatively young man so it wasn't an unperceivable fantasy.

"Is that Draco?" Eliza asked suddenly, pointing at the blond haired boy following Potter as he made an impressive dive.

Snape nodded. "Yes, he is our Seeker."

Eliza snorted and rolled her eyes. "I bet he bought his way on the team. That's how Lucius managed to get on the team back when he was in school."

The professor want to snap at her with a nasty retort for assuming he could be bought (even though it was technically true), but her comment about Lucius caught him off guard. Lucius Malfoy had been a few years above him in school and he was quite the hero amongst the Slytherins. Rich and beautiful, he was the ultimate role model for first years, including Snape. Although the adoration quickly wore off, Snape had always assumed that Lucius had become seeker with authentic talent.

"I thought that Lucius was a good quidditch player," Snape said, the obvious question edging his voice. What was she talking about?

Eliza chuckled and shook her head. "Merlin, no. Erich Lestrange, Rodolphus' little brother, was an amazing Seeker, but they didn't have a galleon between them. So Lucius came in and bought all new Nimbus 1500s – you remember those, don't you? – Anyway, he bought all new brooms for the whole team. Of course they couldn't turn down new brooms, so Lucius Malfoy became Seeker and poor Erich gave up all hope of ever making it on a national quidditch team."

Snape felt little waves of horror passing over him as he realized that everything he thought he knew about his childhood was steadily becoming a lie. To make matters worse, Draco had pulled the same stunt his second year. The only consolation was that there weren't any better players to be had.

Beside him, Eliza was unaware of his revelations as she continued with the story. "I never really cared about quidditch, or about his little bribery, but it really made Narcissa mad when I brought it up. I thought she was actually going to murder me the night Lucius came over for dinner for the first time and I asked him to tell the family about how he tried out for the quidditch team. If Daddy hadn't of taken my side, she might have succeeded in hexing me to oblivion. Of course she never was good at hexing…or spells in general…"

Snape was thoroughly confused. They had gone from talking about Narcissa and "Daddy"? Just how well did she know the Malfoys?

But before he could ask, a roar from the stands sounded the end of the game. Glancing wildly around, the professor quickly realized that his team had lost. Scowling, he looked over at Eliza who was clapping with gusto.

"We lost," he snarled. "Quit clapping."

Eliza continued to clap, beaming at Snape's grouchy expression. "Oh, we lost? Well bravo, good game! I need some firewhisky now to thaw out."

From the ground erupted a loud yell, followed the crowd's gasp. Snape looked down to see Potter and one of the Weasley twins pummeling Malfoy and his sidekicks. The other Weasley twin was straining against the hold that his teammates had on him, clearly intending to attack the Slytherin players too.

"Damn idiots," Snape swore, rubbing his temples once more. As usual, his students had chided the other team to a breaking point, and Gryffindors, being the brash dunderheads that they were, could not resist the bait. Just once he would love it if they wanted to surprise him and perform some act that was utterly unpredictable.

"Hmmm," said Eliza, craning her neck to survey the scene below, "It looks like you have your work cut out for you."

Rolling his eyes, Snape hooked Eliza's arm and began leading her out of the quidditch stands. "I am afraid that you will have to see the headmaster for firewhisky," he said at the base of the stairs. "I have copious amounts of detention to hand out."

Eliza smirked at his mention of detention. He definitely was shaping up to be the teacher that Melanie had described. "That's fine, we can have a drink another time. Besides, I have a former student who desperately wants to see me." Squeezing his arm tightly, Eliza stretched up on her tip toes and gave Snape a swift peck on the cheek. With a final smile over her shoulder, Eliza flounced off to where Melanie stood beside her friends Luna and Ginny Weasley.

Snape stood stock still for a few moments, trying desperately to remember how to breathe. He couldn't think of the last time a woman's lips were close to his face, much less on it. If Professor McGonagall hadn't off stomped past in a flurry of tartan and Scottish accented rage, he would have forgotten all about the students making their way his office for punishment.

Inside his office, as he addressed the boys with his most fearsome cold voice, he found that his thoughts were centered around the burning spot on his cheek. He was convinced that a red lip mark had seared itself on his cheek, visible to the students before him. Perhaps it was this embarrassment that caused Snape to go easy on the boys and only give them lines as punishment, or maybe he truly felt that Potter and the Weasleys got what they deserved. Whatever the reason, Snape knew that his reputation remained intact amongst the students, but Eliza's feelings about him had clearly changed.


	18. Happy Christmas

**AN: It has been a really LONG time since I updated this story, for which I would like to apologize. Between writer's block, other stories, new job, moving, etc... this story was tucked away to be forgotten. I actually wrote this chapter at least a year ago, but I was really hesitant to post it. I thought Eliza and Severus were really a bit out of character and that I was cramming too much in one chapter. But what the hell, it is almost Christmas and they drank a lot of wine. I cannot give any guarantees about the next post (very, very busy new job), but I will do my best to follow through. Please enjoy and review :)**

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><p>Severus paced his study, his eyes glued to the offending scrap of parchment that had caused his stress levels to increase ten-fold as it sat innocently on his desk. It wasn't an official document, or anything written to him by the ministry, a teacher, or any student. It wasn't a bill or some other message meant to deplete his meager bank account. Instead, it was a simple, hand-written note that had the poor man in a state of utter distress.<p>

It began when the Davenport girl approached him at the end of class four days prior. She was not in the habit of conversing with him or acknowledging that she knew him before attending Hogwarts, for which he was eternally grateful, so he was taken by surprise when she pushed through the crowd of exiting students and deposited a note on his podium. He waited until the classroom was empty before swooping over to the podium and yanking open the parchment envelope. Inside he found a brief message written in Eliza's neat script.

_Join me for dinner 7:00 pm Christmas Eve. There will be absolutely no blasted Christmas carols. – E.S_

A slight smile broke through his usual stony expression when he read her last sentence. He always detested the disgustingly charming tunes, and he often considered hexing Flitwick for leading his choir every year to the teachers' offices for caroling and egg nog.

Despite his initial approval at the invitation, panic began setting in when McGonagall reminded him that evening that socks were no longer considered an acceptable gift at the staff Christmas party. Was Eliza expecting a gift when he came for dinner? What in the world would he get her? Why didn't he detain the Davenport girl and interrogate her about Eliza's visit? Why had Eliza not delivered the message herself? His internal barrage of frantic questions tied his stomach in knots as he rushed back to the dungeons to brainstorm a last minute gift for the witch.

Eliza Slope remained an utter mystery to Severus. After the quidditch match, when she planted a chaste kiss on his cheek, Severus' mind whirled with confusion and possibility. His thoughts were crowded, squeezing together to allow Eliza to join the fray. To make matters worse, Lily, being the kind compassionate woman she was, quickly sacrificed the most dominant portion of his thoughts to give Eliza space. So the month of December passed without a single visit from Eliza and yet she occupied his mind's meanderings on a daily basis.

Four days after receiving the invitation, when Christmas Eve finally arrived, Severus was no closer to answering his own questions than he had been the day the invitation appeared. With the attack on Arthur Weasley, and his newest duty of keeping Umbridge distracted through the disaster, Severus barely had time to contemplate Eliza's gift. To be honest, he was slightly miffed that he was not involved in finding the antidote to Nagini's venom. Was he not the potions master? Did he not have access to insider secrets? It was demeaning to be delegated to such lesser tasks, and if he wasn't so damn distracted he might have reminded the headmaster of his status.

The hands on his mantle clock were spinning much too fast that day, making Severus suspect that he was victim to one of the Weasley twins' damnable pranks. But of course he could not truly believe that since the twins were clearly at 12 Grimmauld Place. No, the day had come and Severus was an absolute nervous wreck. He paced his study until the clock chimed at a quarter to seven.

By some miracle, just as he was wrapping his heavy cloak around his shoulders, a sudden idea popped into his mind. Rushing over to the greenhouse window he had charmed into the dungeon wall years ago, he carefully chose one of the plants that he had repotted a few days before. For a brief moment, he considered tying a bow around its plain green pot, but quickly decided against it in case Eliza wasn't planning to exchange gifts. Within moments he was heading down the path to the front gate, nearly skipping with joy that he finally had a solution to his troubles.

When he arrived in Eliza's backyard, the sick hollow feeling in his middle had returned. He supposed apparition on an empty stomach made him feel ill, choosing to ignore the fact that he was absolutely terrified about this dinner.

Knocking on the backdoor, he waited nervously for her to answer. Despite her response taking longer than expected, possibly due to the odd combination of muffled music, scuffling, and screeching sounds on the other side of the door, Severus was not prepared to be greeted by nothing short of a deranged Eliza Slope. Raising his hand to knock a second time, the door suddenly swung open to reveal Eliza sporting a rather vicious wide-eyed scowl.

"I'm going to kill Sirius!" She snarled, stepping back to allow him to enter.

Biting back a chuckle, Severus stepped into the kitchen. Immediately his senses were overwhelmed with tantalizing scents from the oven, a grating chorus of "12 Days of Christmas" from the living room, and the view of Eliza standing before him in strangely beautiful fury.

That last notation took the professor by surprise, but he could not deny that she was absolutely lovely in her dress of deep red. Normally he did not care for that color, always associating it with the brash idiots in Gryffindor, but Eliza wore it with such regal grace that he was beginning to question why he disliked the shade in the first place. The dress itself fit Eliza perfectly, with an open neckline, hugging closely to her tiny waist, and flaring out to a full skirt that fell just past her knees. Her white hair had been twisted neatly behind her head and three small strands of black pearls hung around her neck. But the loveliest feature at the moment was the livid expression on her face.

"While I am sure that dog is worthy of such a punishment, I don't think it is wise to plan his murder in anger," smirked Severus, as he carefully shuffled the potted plant he carried from hand to hand to remove his cloak. This action caught Eliza's eye right away, and she stared quizzically at the plant.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Severus thrust the plant into Eliza's hands. "I, uh, thought you might like this. It is a Christmas gift." Mentally, he cursed himself for stumbling over his explanation.

Surprisingly, Eliza squealed with delight and promptly buried her nose in the greenery. "Hmmm, rosemary is my favorite. How did you know?"

Severus gave her a small smile of relief. "Lucky guess. This particular plant is a cutting from one of my personal rosemary bushes. This line has been in the Prince family for over 200 years and it has the strongest magical properties of any other variety," he explained proudly.

With her previous rage now vanished, Eliza beamed up at the professor and quickly stretched up to peck him on the cheek, much like she had at the Quidditch match. Severus felt his face burn and he wondered if this was going to happen every time they met. It wasn't an unappealing idea.

"This is wonderful, Severus," she breathed. "Thank you." Moving away from him, she took the plant to the small greenhouse window that sat above her counter. Severus watched her hips sway as she walked, appreciating the feminine air with which she moved. Why had he not noticed before?

"So why are you planning on killing Sirius?" he asked, trying desperately to regain rational thought.

Eliza's scowl returned. "Do you hear that racket from the living room? Sirius knew I was out earlier and he sent those twins here to "decorate" my house. I have spent all afternoon trying to remove their 'festive décor', but it just made the bloody charms worse."

Severus actually bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing out loud. Her anger was perfectly justifiable, but the manifestation of her indignation was unnervingly…cute.

"Would you like me to look at it?" he asked, the corners of his lips twitching with mirth.

Eliza narrowed her eyes into a glare. "No, we will just use a silencing charm and have dinner first. With any luck, the charm they used will die in an hour or so."

As Eliza put the finishing touches on dinner, Severus made multiple attempts to cast a successful silencing charm. Whatever spells the Weasleys had used were determined to make themselves heard, and the awful racket ripped through each charm that Severus cast at double the volume. Perhaps if the carols didn't sound like a dozen house elves being drowned while they were singing, he might have agreed to tolerate them through the meal. But noise was making the vein in his temple throb and he was sure that Eliza would soon grind her teeth to powder. With a string of the filthiest swears he could think of, Severus roared _Silencio_ and whipped his wand with as much force as he could muster. By some miracle the warbling stopped.

"Thank Merlin for that," sighed Eliza. Once again, she graced Severus with one of her rare grins, the ones that made his stomach flip uncomfortably and his lips turn upward on their own accord.

Severus tried to regain a business like expression as he took a seat and looked over the meal before him. "Dinner smells wonderful, Mrs. Slope," he said politely.

Eliza rolled her eyes. "I do believe that we are on a first name basis now, Severus."

Severus smirked. For some reason he had a perverse pleasure in hearing his given name fall from her lips. The aloof, well-bred tone her voice carried improved his name to the point that is almost sounded pompous.

"I suppose you are right, Eliza" he drawled, reveling in the way a subtle blush settled on her cheeks. Perhaps it was the nerves, or maybe it was simply Christmas spirit, but Severus realized that he was unabashedly letting his guard down for an evening of frivolity, as Minerva would say, with Eliza Slope.

Together they dined, amiably discussing recent events and interesting articles they had each read. They talked about students and their less appealing qualities. They complained about Albus and his meddling. They bickered about the other Order members and what relevancy their roles had to the great cause. It had been more than two hours since Severus arrived, but he had a feeling that they could talk like this long into the night.

"You wouldn't believe the nerve of Lucius," Eliza spat. She scowled as she said his name making Severus suspect that their conversation would soon be taking a downward turn. Eliza had been consuming wine at an alarming rate, and although it gave her cheeks a steady flush that he appreciated, Severus knew that the possibility of her becoming a belligerent drunk was swiftly approaching.

"What has he done now?" Severus asked, taking a sip of his own wine. He was still on his first glass.

"He went and told Narcissa that he saw us at St. Mungo's. I was sure he wouldn't bother, but of course he always was a gossip queen." Eliza rose suddenly from the table. "So today I got this – hold on, let me get it." She wobbled over to the counter, tottering on her slim heels. Picking up a thick envelope, she brought it back to the table and thrust it in Severus' hands. "I got this in the post today."

Severus did not need to open the envelope to know what it contained. Eliza had received an invitation, just like the one he received every year, to the Malfoy's annual New Year's Eve Ball. It was an ostentatious show that the Malfoys put on for their wealthiest, pure-blood friends. Severus did not fall into either category, but as the Slytherin head of house an invitation still arrived every year via an opulent golden owl. And every year, at Albus' bequest, Severus donned his black dress robes and arrived at Malfoy Manor precisely fifteen minutes past ten on New Year's Eve.

"You have received an invitation to one of the most exclusive and illustrious events in Great Britain. I fail to see why this is a problem," Severus said sarcastically.

Eliza scowled at Severus for a moment, clearly not picking up on his sardonic tone. "This is Narcissa's doing. She wants to rub her life in my face. I am not sure what she thinks she is achieving in doing so. I am not the one interested in a puffed up dandy with nothing but galleons for brains."

Severus snorted. Her description of Lucius was surprisingly apt. "I am afraid I do not understand why your opinion would have any bearing on Narcissa's satisfaction," he said.

Cocking her head to the side, Eliza gave him a long look. "You don't know do you?" She asked, her voice thoughtful.

Severus scowled slightly. No, he didn't know what she was referring to, and honestly he hadn't been aware that he had missed anything until she said something.

Casting her eyes to the floor, Eliza chewed on her lip as though she was thinking of how to explain.

"Narcissa is my sister," she said slowly, allowing the words to sink into Severus. "My twin sister, in fact. For some reason she has maintained this awful rivalry since childhood. I thought going fourteen years without speaking would have cured it, but apparently not."

Severus was stunned. Silently he sat, staring off into space as he processed this new information. She was Narcissa Malfoy's sister, her twin sister. How could this be? Racking his brain for any hint that could have given this information away, he was shocked to find that the evidence was right before his overlarge nose all along.

That explained her relationship with Sirius. It was obvious they knew each other well, but Severus never made the connection. That would explain Eliza's expression every time Tonks spoke. And the way she reacted to Lucius at St. Mungo's. And the conversation they had at the Quidditch match. Hell, it would even explain the damn burn mark he had noticed on that tapestry back at Grimmauld Place.

Hazarding a look at Eliza, he could see the Black features and mannerisms written all over her face. She had the same pointed chin as her sisters, the same proud posture, and the same haughty speech patterns of a true pure-blood. She dressed in clothes made of fine fabrics, and when she chose to wear jewelry, it was usually the sort of superior quality that was passed down for generations. Her temper closely resembled Sirius' and Bellatrix's, but her cool collected demeanor rivaled Narcissa's.

"Say something, Severus," Eliza said quietly, her brow furrowed in worry.

Opening his mouth to respond, Severus hesitated. What should he say? Other than the annoyance at his inexcusable negligence to recognize her family connection, he was not particularly upset with this new information. He could not condemn Eliza for her ancestry because he knew that lineage alone had no impact on a person's behavior. He was shocked, but not appalled by this revelation.

"I am so sorry," he said, unable to suppress a chuckle.

Eliza's jaw dropped. "W-what?" she stuttered.

Severus' chuckle turned into an uncharacteristic laugh. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the sheer absurdity of it all, but this was definitely the most amusement he had ever experienced at the hands of a Black.

"I fail to see the humor in this," scowled Eliza, her green eyes narrowed into a rather ferocious glare.

Severus shook his head but continued to laugh, gripping his side in pain. "I am so sorry," he repeated. "Sorry that you are related to that _dog_. What does it feel like to be the sole sane member of the Black family?"

Eliza's scowl turned into a sheepish grin. "I am afraid I can't be the sole representative of sanity. Andromeda definitely has me beat."

"I suppose you are right," he said. Leaning back in his chair, Severus and tossed the invitation back in Eliza's lap. "So what are you going to do about that?"

Eliza looked down at the fine parchment, her lip curled in disgust. "I would prefer to do nothing. I have no interest in going to this thing."

Pushing his empty plate out of the way, Severus leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers in front of him as he began to formulate a plan. "Lucius knows that we are working together now. And we need the Dark Lord to believe that you are confiding in me in regards to your research," He said slowly, eyeing Eliza to gauge her reaction. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to be seen together, at least where the Death Eaters can see us. And I have also received an invitation. It will make the ruse more believable."

Eliza looked up at him, her eyes wide, "You want to go to the ball together?"

Severus felt his cheeks burn at her hopeful expression. "I think it would make your position more secure," he answered measuredly, lest she was given the impression that his suggestion was loaded with personal intent.

Sighing, she looked down at the invitation again, chewing on her lip in thought. "I guess it is a good idea to be seen together. I really hate these things though."

"I couldn't agree more," he murmured.

Together, they rose to clean the kitchen, each washing and putting away dishes with a few waves of their wands.

Their next task, ridding the living room of the infernal singing decorations, was not as simple. It was long past 11 when they finally finished stripping the flashing garlands from the wall and the dancing stockings from the mantle. The warbling carols had reduced to a demonic sounding dredge and were no longer resistant to Severus' attempts at silencing them.

With chores complete, the pair collapsed on the sofa, each leaning back and closing their eyes. Severus was content to remain in this prone position for several minutes, reveling in this moment of rare relaxation, but Eliza was soon flitting from the room. She returned a moment later carrying a small black box. Sitting beside Severus, she carefully set the box on his lap.

"Happy Christmas, Severus," she said softly.

Quirking an eyebrow, he slowly picked up the black box and inspected it from all angles, testing its weight in his hands, searching for any indication of what its contents might be.

"Open it," Eliza insisted, giggling slightly.

Hesitantly, he pried the lid off the box and peered inside. Nestled in soft paper was a beautifully engraved silver flask. The gift literally took his breath away as he ran a finger along the delicate design surrounding a scrolling S.

It took a couple tries to respond, his throat thick with emotion. "This is wonderful, Eliza," he murmured, still tracing the design.

Eliza smiled widely, her cheeks flushed. "It's not just the flask, it is what's inside," she explained.

Giving her a questioning glance, Severus unscrewed the silver cap and took a whiff. Although he could detect certain key ingredients, he was not able to place what potion was inside.

"It's an antidote. A very specific antidote," She explained.

"For what poison?" he asked. It seemed strange that she would give him a random antidote. Perhaps, he considered, she thought he might be poisoned someday.

"It's for venom. Dumbledore asked me to help with Arthur Weasley's case, so I developed this antidote." Eliza was wringing her hands as she explained this, clearly distressed over the source of inspiration. "I know you work closely enough to the Dark Lord that you are at high risk of having an encounter with that damn snake. If something should happen…if you get bitten…you must take this right away."

Severus was not sure if he had ever reacted in such a way to a gift, but it was an experienced he cared not to repeat. It began with difficulty swallowing, like there was a bit of bread wedged in his throat, as he stared at the flask in his hand and replayed Eliza's words in his mind. She was worried about him getting bitten. _She was worried about him_.

It wasn't something he cared to admit, but Severus was sure that if Eliza hadn't chosen that moment to fling her arms around his neck, she would have certainly seen the tears threatening to slip down his cheeks. _She was worried about him_.

Severus reveled in the feeling of Eliza, pressed against him, around him. Dropping the flask back in the box that was still sitting on his lap, he timidly returned Eliza's enthusiastic hug.

The hug was over much too soon, and yet Severus was thankful. He didn't want to think about what horrible color his face must be. He couldn't meet her eye, not yet, lest the tears and the lump in his throat should return. Allowing his hair to curtain his face, Severus bent over the flask to inspect it once more before tucking it into his robe pocket.

With a sidelong glance at Eliza, Severus cleared his throat. "Thank you," he said quietly. "I hope to Merlin that I never have to use it, but if that moment should arise, I am grateful that you thought of me and that my life will be saved at the mercy of your hands."

"Oh Severus," Eliza murmured, shaking her head when the words evaded her. Taking his hand, she gave it a squeeze.

Just then the clock struck midnight.

"I really must get going," sighed Severus. "Albus has me on hall duty."

"Not yet, I'm afraid," giggled Eliza. Biting her lip, she pointed above Severus' head. Floating about a foot above him was a sprig of charmed mistletoe.

"Damn Weasleys," he muttered, trying to swat the mistletoe away. But being the charmed decoration that it was, the sprig instantly began to grow and long tendrils wrapped around his shoulders, pushing him towards Eliza.

For a moment, Severus felt true fear as the mistletoe proved to be an inescapable opponent. The more he tried to wiggle out of its grasp, the faster it pushed him toward Eliza.

She, on the other hand, was nothing short of amused by the plant's tactics. "You know, I think there is just one solution to this."

"Fiendfyre?" He snarled, the plant holding him just inches away from Eliza's face

"Just kiss me, Severus."

There was no hesitation. Before she could finish saying his name, he pressed his lips to hers in a crushing kiss. The mistletoe began pulling away immediately, but Severus moved his hand to the back of Eliza's neck and turned his head to deepen the kiss. Somewhere in the back of his mind a flash of red hair reminded him why he shouldn't be doing this, but that was instantly swept away when Eliza moaned softly and her lips parted slightly beneath his. It just felt so _right_ to be kissing Eliza Slope.

It was Eliza who pulled back first, breathless but smiling. Giving him one more light peck on the lips, she pressed her forehead to his.

"Happy Christmas, Severus," she said softly.

"Happy Christmas, Eliza."


End file.
